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It seems to be mostly a graphical overhaul due to it using DS3's engine and potentially a enemy placements will be touched. They'll replace the Anor Londo fun bridge with Anor Londo Fun Cursed bridge. Blightown instantly poisons you, Tomb of the Giants is nothing but giant skeleton wheels.


So, yeah, I am fighting Manus. And yeah, i forgot how frustrating he is. Dodge central is failing and even with the Black Knight Greatsword maxed out, It'll be a tough fight. Defeated Arty without issues(ok, I died 3 times because I mistimed stuff). I kinda realised that the humanity sprites are boring to fight. I mean, really boring as an enemy. :-/ Good fr farming, boring to fight. Is it just me that finds them tedious?

Also, [&@%!] MANUS! Even Ornstein and Smough didn't cause me to rage on this playthrough. Manus, I almost. I almost raged. So, i pretty much said "[&@%!] this. Different boss." Nito kinda got defeated quickly. I may be a bit overleveled. I may be at level 91.

This seems to be dead fr a small bit thus I shall GIT GUD and bring it back to life.

I finished DS1 and wow, I really realised how underwhelming the second half is. Tomb of the Giants, I like because of it's atmosphere,it's challenging enemies(Unless you can kill them in a few hits). No skeleton wheels. Shame that Nito is an utter pushover for most builds. Just a darn shame. Demon Ruins is alright, i suppose but really lazy. It makes sense to reusue the Taurus and Capra demons but no more? Disappointing. The fire breathing gargoyles can be cheap via stunlocking but aside from that, too easy to kill. The worms are just meh to fight. I mean, really boring. Heck, that's a main issue in the ruins. It's boring. At that point,I can easily kill everything. But the Firesage? What a cheap son of a [&@%!]! [&@%!] spammed his AOE attack on me. Literally could not recover. That and disappointing to fight. Now, Lost Illzarth? What. The. [&@%!].

Lava that is too bright, the dragon legs being overpowered for an enemy of that stature. Just why? Why can they stomp the entire area around you? I know it's rushed but come on! The chaos eaters are an interesting design but why do they have an attack that does no damage? If it's humanity based then why? If I'm being eaten and spat out, i expect to take damage. The only notable enemy is the Quelana/the hostile witch and even then, she's easy to kill. Kirk is Kirk and same ol' fight. Bed of Chaos is definitely the worst boss in the entire franchise, imo. Pure RNG and makes every build useless. Though, i did discover that you can block the swipes with a greatshield and it won't be instant death. I can see what they were aiming for. A Dark Souls take on the Dragon King/God from Demons but that was a far better puzzle boss.

This? Random chance. Thank god that they didn't stick to usual rule of if you die, health resets.

Now, New Londo Ruins. What a cheap [&@%!] place. Gank central. I like the idea of ghosts attacking through the walls but come on! I swear there are parts where you have to tank it and god help you if you run out of curse items. Neat atmosphere though but really fails on the enemy front. The female ghost attack can stunlock. It's the same as the drake breath in the valley but by god, what a cheap surprise.

Four Kings is meh. DPS race most of the time. Just meh.

Gwyn is quite a surperb boss(outside parry spam) and is the most aggressive one outside of the DLC.

It would be real nice if From Software is involved with the remaster but just in a "seeing as you're remastering it, here's what we originally wanted to do. Here's the notes, resources. Could you do this?" position. It is unlikely though.

It's just going to be a port, which is all I'd expect it to be. If they were including new stuff (like Demon Ruins, now slightly less bad) they'd have lead with that in the marketing.

I haven't played Dark Souls 3 yet, but my take on worst boss is Blue Smelter Demon from the Dark Souls 2 DLC. Hey, do you know the worst boss in the base game? Yeah, what if we have another one that's even harder?

But not as cheap as Bed of Chaos. It's not even fun to fight. Just run, strike, run, [&@%!] YOU GAME, Run, str.. COME ON!, ru...

*hours later*

[&@%!] THIS GAME! *burns country to the ground*

I er... I may have some unresolved issues with Bed of Chaos.

I'm sorry, but at least BOC can be dealt with in a hurry. Smelter? He can be a ball ache.. especially when he's blue. Most of the optional DLC trilogy bosses are in some form or another a punishment, along with the path to get there.

Smelter tho.. just a [&@%!], no fun. Tanky as hell, far reach in a small arena, camera aint yo friend pal, and lets not forget that AoE and proximity damage... I had more fun with Fume Knight, i.e the hardest boss in DS2 period, and if I had more fun there.. thats saying something...

Btw, I would have said Fume was the definitive hardest in the series... had it not been for a certain abyss dragon...

Picked up a cheap copy of Dark Souls II the other day to regain motivation and tis a solid entry. Going as a pure melee mixture of tank and dodge. Whatever the situation calls for and I have an issue with a certain stat. [&@%!] Adaptlity! I looked it up and all it means is more I-frames. Why is that a stat? Why? It's a waste of souls. Oh and dislike how the load is now a stat of it's own but admittly, that's just because of me using tanking stats. Strength, endurance, health, dex and strength. Can see why it is.

Gonna to restart again as I've lost too many souls and kinda want to start afresh. Third time. Beaten Last giant, Pursuer(Boss room), Dragonrider and Dragonslayer, The Last Sinner, Ruin Sentinels.


Here are my thoughts on each boss fight.


The Last Giant is a decent fight and is just challenging enough to keep you moving. It's easy to defeat but it will make you pay if you aren't careful. The real danger is just being trapped against a wall. Pate is useless though and worse, I found out that if you summon, you get less souls.

The Pursuer is a extremely good wake up call. I admit, I raged and I was salty at times but it's seems to be the game going "OI! You think this was easy? Pfft, try a real boss!" Parrying is a cheap tactic but whatever works, works.

DragonRider is.... is this meant to be a boss? I mean, he's easy and i didn't know it but summoning that NPC makes it almost Tarkus levels of easy. Just more or less keep moving, attack and repeat. Admittly, I may have been at a level where it wasn't intended.

The Dragonslayer is a surperb fight. Just Orny as a rematch and really good fight. Massive letdown though as he is too easy and I feel that they should have given him more attacks, more aggression though if he was teamed up with DragonRider, that would be Smough and Ornstein levels of hard. Though, it would be because Orny forces you to dodge and DragonRider is a tank and would kill you because you forgot he was behind you.

The Last Sinner is an excellent fight. No [&@%!] attacks, no gimmicks just you and her. It's more or less like Artorias but a lot more aggressive and she packs quite a punch. The main issue I have with the fight is the route to it. I hate exploding hollows! That's [&@%!] cheap! Really cheap and not even a challenge. Just the game saying "[&@%!] you! You dead!" I lost 44k souls because of it. She also refused to let me go home. That wasn't the salty rage. I accepted my fate, i walked into a boss fight with 44k souls and died. The salty rage was caused by river of [&@%!]. That NPC is [&@%!]! Why are the summons so crap?

The Ruin Sentinels are a gank boss and admittly, I fougth them when I shouldn't have but with that NPC, tis a decent fight. Just a matter of speed, ensuring that you aren't overwhelmed.

I am starting to think that this loves cheap deaths. Mainly ambushes and exploding barrels caused by the enemy. Oh and [&@%!] the shaded woods! So far, I loathe that area because the enemies are invisible! How the [&@%!] am I meant to fight something I can't see!? HOW!? Gankroot Garden was bad at times but at least it was managable. This? This is just being hard for the sake of it. [&@%!] this area. Not fun to fight in and just dull. I wouldn't mind if it was a mixture of them going invisible to move then appearing but invisible? [&@%!] off. Sorry, just salty about it. Also, enemies can backstab?! Found that out when opening a chest.

I used to hate the idea of weapons degrading but I like it now. It adds that bit of fear of it running out of health and being left with a weapon that doesn't work that well. Combat seems to be much more fluid and I like the Emerald Herald. Admittly, I prefer to level up at bonfires but tis no biggie. Tis a nice callback to Demon Souls and I like the half health when hollowed. Adds a minor challenge to it. I do however hate the lack of arrows. I mean, was it really that much of an issue in the first game where people had hundreds of arrows? Because it wasn't for me.

I kinda hate the parrying system. I've read that you have to do it before the animation for the enemy attacks. It's just crap. Granted, Parrying was overpowered in the first game but they should have made it harder to parry in other ways. Not make it guesswork galore.

Also, [&@%!] exploding hollows. Tis a death sentence and dull to fight.

Why does the Sinner Rise bonfire have enemies near it? That's just dickish of From. Bonfires are meant to be safe!

Few things.

Adaptibility is vital for those that rely on dodging, especially for naked runs. Got a boss thats too tough and just cant get that perfect timing? Spend points into it. It's the game's answer to making rolls and parries alot more smaller of a window to get right. Heck, even i always kept a soft cap on that stat, just enough to where it wouldnt hurt.. till the DLCs, then I sunk in what would've been for bonus health

And speaking of stats, gotta love how much some of the stats overlap with elements. Like, pyro enchants being faith based now, and dark magic/miracles being a blend of two stats. Ect

Next up, and I am serious about this, magic is just too OP in DS2. More castings and the ability of range+AI abuse. So good. Even though a dark(and fire) longsword was my bread n butter, magic was a big way for me to cheese early game, take care of annoying enemies, and sink in alot of damage on bosses regardless of level. Like, seriously, bless dark magic. Bless how generous the castings can be. And bless the consumable that refreshes all of my castings, seriously, if it wasnt for that and spaming the hardest hitting spells in the game, no way in hell i would've beaten the DLC end bosses.. especially Ivory(bc [&@%!] that guy)

Btw, boss talk. Dragonrider is suppose to be a punishing fight if you rush and dont care about the switches. The arena is small and personal. Each switch adds a new layer, lowering your odds of being knocked off(which is the boss's specialty i.e sumo wrestling) but is also an optional difficulty adjustment. Similar thing with Last Sinner, you will have a hell of a better time lighting one or both fires, but if you wanna keep things interesting and dokt like auto-targeting, well...

Oni likewise, yes, could have done with being ALOT tougher. It's not bc his faults show more when he's alone, but that he should have been a much later tier boss, outmatching anything in his local area but sooooo worth it if you win early on. Plus, ya know, he's totally just a love letter to the fans

And yes, you are correct, Persurer is a good wake up call. If ya fight him prior to the arena, he'll normally kick your [&@%!] in and rightly so. In his arena tho, you do at least have the chance to use the ballista and add in some easy damage at least once

Btw, per summons. Unlike in DS1, where there were a select few and they were either story required, a handicap, or just dead weight/not a good match up to the boss.. in DS2, there is alot more variety and not all of them are good or required. Like, some are, namely NPCs if ya wanna progress their story.. but most of the others are phantom only, and generally make things worse. Your better off looking on the wiki to see who's worth it and who isnt. Tho.. there is a difference between summons viable for the area and those for the boss. Still, PC summons are just all around worth it

Also. Why the hate for explosems? Either bait em or use a weapon that can safely kill em. Like, ya shouldnt ever be right up their face, ya just dont. Even the longsword has a good jab attack like the spear. The real danger I say, is those that can curse ya.. bc [&@%!] do they suck

Also, tip for the shaded woods, ya can dash through and aggro most of en till umya reach the cliff, where A)you can focus them down from where their coming and B)be able to see them since backstabbing will be harder. There is also a ring/chest armor that negates backstabs, so, ya know, that helps. Really, I found the lions in the next zone far tougher

One last tid bit, make sure your rings dont break, like, seriously. The onky two rings you should be glad broke are the life saving ring and soul one. One preserves your humanity while the other your souls. Sure, repairing two or three life rings can be expensive.. but it's thw crutch I used to avoid hallowing. The soul ring is good when you KNOW you mighy not be getting out alive, like, a boss fight you may never beat. Did I ever use it? Once, maybe, for a suicide run, but normally i never carried so many souls to where I was at a total loss. Dont chain zones without spending your previous cash. The game is generious enough to let ya warp(and farm certain areas bare)

Regarding Adapabilty, good point but still, it's a rather uneccessary stat that should really have been tied into Endurance or just given Agility as a stat with faster rolls. I've only boosted it to 90 Agility and likely not use it. I now dislike the equipment load stat. Should have been strength or endurance but again, can understand why they did it.

I agree, the stats overlapping with elements is good. Pyromancy was too overpowered in the first game and requires only attunement to use it fully. Intel to boost the damage, i think but it was powerful. Not tried magic. Gonna for full melee and ranged build.

Thought that would be the case and without the switches, it seems to be a bit of a challenge but after Pursuer, he is really easy. Just dodge to the left, attack and repeat or use the almost Tarkus tier NPC. Or cheese him. I er... I kinda shot half his health away just to see if attacking him from outside the arena was viable. It is. That and i was playing it extremely safe due to 10k+ souls at risk. I restarted as a knight again.

The trick to beating Pursuer seems to be getting him to open up before firing. Parry works to a degree but he doesn't care for any of your [&@%!] if you don't dodge. I have heard he occurs regular in the Sin edition. I lack that edition but tis a good change imo.

Regarding exploding hollows. It's cheap. It's a cheap instant death if you don't catch them when you walk into a room thing and I hate them. Boring to fight, just a one hit kill from me and not a challenge aside from exploding [&@%!].

Good point about the NPCs and it works to a degree but it seems to just be rubbish AI at play sometimes. I mean, Pate doesn't realise that staying away from the giant is a good idea and turtle mode is best for him. Granted, the Last Giant is the easiest(so far) boss in the game for me.

I've got the Ring of Protection. That seems to avert hollowing on death and 3k souls is a good price to pay for security.

I fought the Fexile Sentry today and aside from the cramped space, tis meh. Though, that may be because I kicked his arse and had Lucatile as a summon to try to start her questline. She was semi-average in the fight. Last Sinner is impossible for her and this is the unpatched version.

Regarding Ornstein, i agree. Should have been a later boss. A bigger area, a mixture of lightning and dark AOE, him being as aggressive as Artorias. Just a damned shame that he is easy. Still a good fight though. Just 1 vs 1 combat. No gimmicks, no arena hazards. Just Ornstein and you. Though, it may hint a lot at Ornstein's true fate due to him seeming to use Abyss stuff.

First thing first. No, just, no, Ornstein using Dark has a BIG implication for him. Not only is it a complete 180 from the former god, but it's also a switch in targets.. dragons are weak to lightning, humans are weak to dark.. Also, Ornstein has always been aggressive, he breaks distance FAST, it just seems easier bc you can focus on JUST him. And btw, what I meant for later game, I meant, keep the same zone, same everything but his difficulty i.e simply adjust his health, damage, and timing for different attacks. Also, ya know, he's sometimes the 2nd boss people fight, so post-persurer your already outmatching him

Well, if all ya do is tank, adaptability might seem useless, but it's a net-positive stat always, and worth enough fmto be it's own thing. It's not like resistance in DS1.

As for carry weight. Few tid bits. It helps to not carry three weapons in both hands. It all adds up. 2nd, if your a tank or carrying heavy weapons.. ya, no, it's a given your not gonna roll fast or at all, especially early game. It's the trade off. Nobody wants a flipping Havel again

It's Faith for Pyromancy btw

With the NPCs, Dark souls AI has never been dynamic, never. You only ever notice them doing their job if they solo the boss or distract it enough. Sure, some are trash, thats the given. In DS2, their answer to making phantoms more viable is making them SO DAMN TANKY. Seriously, ya'll [&@%!] at em over a boss but when an invader comes by their like "Aw [&@%!] no" Seriously, the ones that are worth it are the ones that A) dont just have suicidal dreams B) can at least add some damage, and C) DISTRACT. Some bosses this works wonders(recall Ornstein and Smoug in DS1), others.. just fodder

Good point. It does raise the question of if Manus is truly dead or if Ornstein had the misfortune of fighting him and following Artorias's fate. Though, unlike Artorias, he isn't insane and is very stotic. Granted, we barely see an insight into his personality in the first game but he seemed like a decent fella. It seems he is just meant as an easter egg boss as you kinda have to go out of your way to get to him. Granted, it's not that far but plot wise? No reason to go to the cathredal aside from a covenant. It could be possible that this isn't Ornstein but either another fake or just happens to be something that looks like him. I am leaning towards it being him. He's weaker and if Manus did corrupt him, then potentially, he was stronger then Artorias in terms of facing the father of the abyss due to him not being as corrupted as Arty, if that makes sense.

Summon NPCs don't tank for me. Granted, I am on the unpatched version but tanking doesn't seem to bode well. Aside from Masterless something that curbstomps Dragonrider. It's just crap AI and whilst some were useless in the first game. None were as useless as Pate is in the Last Giant. I mean, really? Brolaire is outclassed, outpowered by Ornstein and Smough but he is still useful. Here? Only a handful seem to be useful beyond being squishy things for the boss to kill easily.

AS for invaders. Had my first encounter with an NPC invader. Almost killed me and she regretted facing me when I had my +5/+6 [&@%!] sword. Tanky now.

Discovered bonfires can turn areas into their NG+ things and gonna to face the Last Sinner again. Once again, excellent fight. I would say that this is a wake up call boss for some builds. I love the protection ring and whilst it is a bit tedious to repair it, I rather do that then lose.....


60k souls because of a [&@%!] exploding hollow because I thought I hit it! Stupid hollow cost me my reward from ruin sentinels! I was exploring after dying twice. Once with ring, once without and that damn hollow just exploded within reach.

Oh and [&@%!] whoever decided to put three archers that immediately attack you next to a bonfire in Sinner's rise! Skeleton Lords are next once I fixed the ring and then i'll see where else to go. Probably be Shaded Funwood. Wooo. :-/ Yeah, still not fond of fighting enemies I can't see.

You do know, ya can spam-farm enemies till they wont spawn anymore. Good fix for bonfire traps or boss runs.

Ya, you can revive areas to NG+ which is a good chance for getting more souls or special items

You're still in early game, you dont know what other npcs there are to summon yet, and which are just worth it.

First off, so much wrong there.

I know but that was a [&@%!] decision by From. I mean, that's real cheap, almost Bed of Chaos levels of cheap. I'll respond to the Ornstein stuff later on as this is a bit of a quickie.


True but I can always use one of the wikis. I already use Wikidot to check out weapons.

Defeated Covertuous Demon, Skeleton Lords and the medusua queen thingy.

CD is a meh fight. Telegraphed attacks, easy to dodge and I've heard it has a move that unequips everything. It was easy. I only got hit a few times because I didn't know it's moves but once I did, twas easy. After poison hell,this was meh.

Skeleton Lords are fairly disappointing and it's a gimmicky DPS race, it seems. I just murdered everything in that room with my +5 [&@%!] sword. No mercy but the skeleton wheels almost killed me.

Medusa queen is a [&@%!] to beat if in posion but I robbed her of it and introduced her to Jester Thomas.


The dude freaking wrecked her. I only got in 2-3 hits, i think and that was because he kept hit her with his flame stuff. I am in the Iron Keep and am about to face Saltyrage Demon... i mean, Smelter Demon. I have heard of it's reputation. How many beares have became salty about it.


Oh and faced down the gankgogyles. Not much of a challenge per garygoygle. Just avoid letting them become gankers. I used magic resin and each only took 3 hits to kill. They are just there. Should have been in the game as a mandatory boss imo. It's fun balancing their numbers and admittly, it is likely because I am pure melee, I have the strength and a [&@%!] of a sword that says [&@%!] you to pretty much anything I face, easy.


The worst boss so far is CD in terms of boss fight. Easy, disappointing and unless you aren't paying attention, hard to loss.


Oh and defeated Lost Sinner again. The worst part of NG+ conditions was keeping Lucatiel alive. Fortunatly(and many, many tries later), I succeeded. Just tanked her whilst Lucatiel did the damage and only attacked when she finished combos. Twas close for both of us though.

I hate the exploding hollows. I hate them with a passion and it is because they cost me a lot of souls in total. Just because of the exploding move. Easy to kill but gotta to be fast.

Well, DS2 also didnt need to be so generious with bonfires so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And on that segway, keep in mind, DS2 has ALOT more bosses, both essential and optionals. And some are really more like mini bosses.. or reappear in the DLCs

Jabba the hut.. I mean CD is really only a challenge bc he's tanky. Everything is well telegraphed bc he's still early tier, like carpa demon, but ya also cant get careless bc he can hit HARD. Btw, there is a trick where you can shoot down hollows from the hanging pots and it'll distract him. Good mini boss tho

Skele lords were never gonna be hard, their more of a test on endurance than strength. Their not a bad boss, not in my opinion anyways, they just dont got alot going for them

Both bell towers are hidden and optional areas, and while yes.. the boss is meh but fun, the real threat comes just from the area itself. It's a major, MAJOR pvp area if your not a part of the covenant. Seriously, your teeth will get knocked in. It is not at all like the gank forest.. odds are really stacked against the host, and invasions were even frequent back when I played, and that was during the drop off! As for why their optional, dude, you'll see, there are ALOT more

Jester Thomas is just a beast, and a good meme. You'll see him, what, once more? Maybe twice? Anyways, ya, he's both perfect for that area and just strong AF. Btw, per the medusa fight, you can get rid of the poison by burning the windmill with your torch. (Also. Did you find Ladder guy! You might want him)

True but still, to put archers next to a bonfire that can potentially stunlock you or kill you quickly seems to be evil and doing it for the sake of making it hard. So far, Dark Souls II has a lot of bosses and all are fun. My favourite fights so far are: Lost Sinner, Pursuer,Dragonslayer and Ruin Sentinels. All three are good lessons for the player. Lost Sinner teaches you to dodge or tank, the importanance of summons if one is having issues with her. Pursuer is a great boss that slaps you around and for me, the game's first real boss.

Jabba the Hut isn't anywhere near Capra demon's levels. Capra has a small arena, dogs and can still kick your arse if you don't use the cheese method but also teaches you to use your surrondings to your benefit. It's also a fun fight without the cheesing method. Jabba the hut is meh. Fairly fun but a meh boss because of how easy he is. Admittly, i may have been a bit overleveled for him. Level 100(ish) and is it me or is the game really generous with levelling up? I'm not even grinding. Just killing stuff, defeating bosses. Level 100 is an entire playthrough in the first game.

Gankgoyles are fun to fight and the real challenge is not to let them gank. A good bonus boss but really should have been a mandatory boss. PVP, i can't do. The midgets did kill me twice though. I am curious to see if Gankgoyles are a threat to magic-melee builds/magic builds or if strength tanky builds outright wreck them.

Jest Thomas is Tarkus levels of meme/badass. I could probably just act as a distraction and he would murder medusa by himself. Skeleton lords seem to be a bit like the Four Kings. You need to take them out quickly or risk a massive gankfest. Don't know if it's because i'm pure melee or not but really easy to defeat. Shame. It would be challenging if the lords themselves only served as the boss with the skeletons only dying with a divine weapon. Akin to Nito's fight. The biggest threat is the wheelies.

I think I'll use the Bonfire thingy(can't spell it correctly) to respawn Heide's flame tower. Fight Dragonslayer and Rider. I want to do the fexile sentry but I accidentally used the ship and want to get the items before I do that.

From are trolls. I assumed hitting illusionary walls wud make them appear. Turns out you're meant to press X(PS3). That's just....trolling.

Oh and NPC phantoms are not a challenge for me. I was killed after the Earthen Peak funhouse NPC but only because of poison.

I may revist posion hell but only when I can inflict hundreds of damage per arrow on spellcasters. Sicklemen ganks are the biggest threat and admittly, I cheesed them. My souls were high and my ring broke.

Got the dragonrider bow. Gonna to use some boss souls. I like the change as it seems to make sense. I mean, some weapons in the first game didn't match what needed to be reinforced.

Dude, it was probably just an oversite. And I'm sorry, if you get stunlocked by those archers or are so low health NEXT TO a bonfire, you deserve to die. Just saying. And seriously, keep this in mind, your playing the unpatched version, not SOTFS where enemy placement and balancing was completely retooled

FYI, I'm gonna say this, but your probably overleveled for alot of the areas your fighting in, or pooling all your points in very few stats. That may explain some of your critisisms. Tho really, being a tank and strength build just makes ya feel powerful.. until your not.. bc your not invincible nor the right match up to an opponent. Case in point, your explodems

Also, what is this cheese method? Like, if your cheesing a boss deliberately, cant really say their too easy. Thats like only fighting Four Kings with magic damage resistance and lots of pyromancy before more spawn.. (btw, if your refering to the hollow bait, its not a cheese method. He gains hyper armor while eating but it gives ya time to heal or sink in some status effects)

Again, you havent seen [&@%!] yet, gargies aint nothing. I would take persurer over them any day. Also, what, the mini's aint nothing I mean, they are when you dealing with invaders but still. And speaking of PVP zones, both areas covered by the rat covenant. Really nice stuff, love em. And I actually enjoy the pvp mechanic since it's trap based. Had alot of good matches with folk.. and went offline when I didnt wanna be bothered <.<

You dont know [&@%!] about the Jester, he is DEATH. Like, trust me, he's top tier, and strictly a pyromancer. Also, damn is his chest piece so nice. Trust me on this, you'll learn to respect him and the glorious Forbidden Sun even more than you do now

Reminder, rekindling a flame also respawns all loot. It's a good way to farm for top tier loot, but also a waste if your only doing it for back to back boss fights

Again, back to the lv thing, and the fact that not all invaders are top notch, while some are just.. so right. Like, some take special conditions, and some even alter their behavior to mess with ya. Like, there is even one invader that wont even show a pop up.

I forget her name, but there was one invader in the woods, before the skele lords or charriot, that was really fun to fight and just at my levek to where she was a threat. I didnt know at the time, but I though she was a player, which idk, probably makes me bias. Still tho, aint got [&@%!] on the prowlers, [&@%!] those guys. Seriously tho, I wonder if your gonna [&@%!] off the one npc who should not be [&@%!] off. It's like, trading a friendly neighbor that gives ya pies vs a serial stabber that only brings pain

FYI. Big tip, but there are multiple vendors that can trade for boss souls, be it a weapon or spell. It's why farming some bosses is so tempting

Hopefully, it was and I've yet to actually get stunlocked to death. The archers are mostly tedious to take care off but 30 fights later, they no longer exist.(30 due to using bonfire astetic). I did not intend to overlevel. It kinda just happened and I think that is something I will criticise the game for but it is most likely me doing pure melee that has resulted in me becoming Tarkus. That and the [&@%!] sword is too good.

You don't know the Capra demon cheese method? It's plunge spam.

I've turned the [&@%!] sword into poison and I kinda regret it because it occured to me literally minutes later that a weapon i can swing rapidly is better. >.< Instead of the [&@%!] sword.

I fought the Smelter demon and lost. I can kinda see why people say it's one of the hardest fights in the game. Just need to get fire resistance gear. It's a shame the dull ember is located all the way in the Iron Keep but it does help to balance it. I mean, a poisoned weapon may reduce a lot of bosses prior to it to poison, wait and repeat.

I think I may either restart and go for a hybrid or use a soul vessel and do a hybrid. Kinda is now making the game boring because of the tanking nature.

EDIT: Right, I have kinda decided that a new playthrough will be started. Deprived(seeing as it's too easy to overlevel or seems to be for me at least. Will do it as a magic tank. Whilst that may risk the issue of me being overpowered for bosses, I am hoping that it keeps me on my toes. Will spend souls on items. I rarely use them and that should hopefully, deal with the levelling issue. 100 by accident.

You might just be overleveling in the low-tier because your sticking around the areas too long and only ever using the same gear, and damage output alone doesnt tell ya much in a strength build(especially if all you ever do is block and tank) You've been through this before, in DS1. You started off thinking nothing can stop you.. then bam, you run into something you cant cheese away(wheel-skeles, giant/beast skeles, ect) likewise in DS2(explodems, cyclops, ect) And another thing, your still in the low tier game. Like, Smelter demon is sort of into mid game, but your also not even done with the four Great Bosses, which tend to the vanguard. Then you got all of mid game taking you through your main quest, and late game is once everything starts to wrap up.. along with the dlc's which really add a number

So again, you really shouldnt criticise it all when your barely through a 4th
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Anyways. I've always played with alot more focus on stamina than health, with middle to light armor mixed in. I never could afford to trade hits and tank em. And especially in DS2, I had stats spreaded out more and constantly had to get the next optimal weapon, spell, or armor. The only time I felt overleveled is when I was making the jump from mid to late game.. till I had to clean house and had to finish off some optionals.. and boy did the DLCs really get me, especially the 2nd one. Then again, I also had to contend with invaders and rarely ever used npc phantoms except for story reasons.. or bc hey, I'm farming.. or just really wanna see what all the fuse is about so and so(i.e Jester Thomas). Per player summons? I think i only ever did, like, a few.. and that was for two of the three dlc end bosses bc damn was I stuck


Btw, if its not too late, dont bother with deprived, its [&@%!]. If you wanna feel squishy and still be handicapped in your comfort zones, try spellcaster class. The armor is good(and fashionable) and the staff at least gives ya early access to spells. Early game is still gonna feel easy to ya, but, well, ya also never made it to the Crypt or le boss rush.

FYI. Reminder, do not fight the final boss, at the Throne until you've completed the crowns dlc and quest. (As well as speak to the Scholar at every instance, but you havent met him/it yet)

Again, not intentionally. The biggest issue I have with Fromsoftware overhauling the [&@%!] sword is that it's too good! Sure, you have to fight the ironclads but they are easy amd so far, I can't bring myself to use another one. That said, I did realise that this may be the Drake sword equvillant but scales better. There's the fire longsword. I think I'll treat it as I do with the drake sword. Get but do not use. I mean, it's too useful otherwise. To avoid the feeling of everything being mundane, I'll avoid the typical tanky method. I want to do deprived for the challenge but yeah, the stats are [&@%!]. All it means is it takes longer to level up but roughly 12 levels to get it to somewhat decent and I have decided on a magic melee hybrid. Socerer it shall be. It may make it easy but I'll focus on the melee stats(whilst they are cheap, vit, end, health, a few levels in adp and equip load) then do magic. That or use a soul vessel but I think i'll enjoy it more with a new toon.

I only have original dark souls II. Will aim for a mixture of DPS, strength and magic. Just try to vary attacks. Along with buying items.

I kinda dislike how easy it is to level up. 15k souls near 100? That's should be a lot higher.

Most people stop around SL140 by end game. Not to say most folks dont overlevel throughout the game, and with how localized NG+ can be, doesnt help

Btw, something big to note, you have ALOT more upgrade routes for your weapons, and not all are worth it and even less so with niche weapon synergies. Ya also have more scale relevance i.e no more lightning zwiender for a pure strength build. Or free ride with fire. No no

Basically, to kick this in the balls from the start, the standard upgrade path is always the best, all around path, especially for scaling. After that, it's a sweet tie between Dark and Fire*, since both hit dark(especially against other players), scale off the same stats(faith/Int), as well as being a good match up against alot of enemies I also should feel the need to talk about two, make or break upgrades that are almost always done REALLY well or just REALLY bad. That being Raw and Mundane. Same rules from DS1 apply here for Raw, it butchers your scaling for pure damage.. which might sound nice, but is only ever a good call if the weapon purely benefits(i.e [&@%!]/no scaling) or your build itself is limited, to where scaling off of you doesnt matter, regardless of stat.

Next up, Mundane, the fun n odd one. It's, the opposite to Raw. It will butcher your damage output and scaling, all except for your LOWEST stat in which case it gains a massive boon. This is an infusion best when your build is more flexible, and basically does everything. Your lowest stat, relative to everything else, is still high and therefore superior than say, a Strength build where it's lowest stats are trash

As far as weapon synergies and those with innate traits, it goes without saying. Hell, fast moving dex weapons work wonders with poison or bleed. And that doesnt always mean katanas.. Daggers or whips are good(I even kept a knotched wip to punish players and make them panic roll while that bleed meter filled up)
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One last thing, and this is very important to you, when you come across the weapon Santier's Spear, dont junk it. It is literally one of the best weapons, being the only weapon with unlimited durability, a fun moveset, and the best weapon infused to Raw. It is however, also one of the worst weapons for PVP bc it's so hyped up and overused, and the moveset is so predictable, everybody knows how to parry it or just slaughter you

Btw, have fun trying to figure out how to unlock its potential

RE: Ornstein in Dark Souls 2.

I kinda assumed that was the real Ornstein and the Ornstein and Smough in Dark Souls 1 were an illusion, like everything else in that city. A sorta final test by Gwyndolin to get an undead strong enough. Because if Gwyndolin's plan for a final test was "kill two of my allies" it's not a great plan. Gwyndolin does want someone to get the lordvessel eventually.

Dark Souls 2 Ornstein is pretty far from that more pristine image, which is out of place once you know the truth about Anor Londo.

To be fair, if one can't even take on Ornstein and Smough, then they would have no chance against the lord souls. Or rather, i think that may be what Gwyndolin as thinking. They are just normal knight and executioner who give the Chosen Undead the toughest fight so far. I can see Ornstein leaving after Gwyn restarted the fire out of lacking purpose due to the princess leaving or going along with her.


Regarding what Beta posted.

I'll chose my upgrades carefully. Likely use a fast weapon for poison.

The socerecer is quite a varied combat style. I've died a few times already. Once because of the jump in Things Betwixt and I foolishly didn't release the left stick, thus plunging to my watery grave. I killed the hippos and i discovered the coffin of sex change. Did freak me out because I thought it had affected my character's face by making it default aside from the hair and tattoo but am glad it's not the case. Last Giant killed me once but it was a lucky shot. Against a melee character, hugging the leg is my tatic. As a socerer? It tasted my soul arrow after soul arrow. I dodged it's blows, it hit me a few times but the gem of life healed my wounds and I smote it.

Oh god, the pursuer is gonna to be hard. I tend to have a few deaths as a tank because of damage output. Great wakeup boss as i said and I try to use parry, run like hell, fire and finish off. I think I'll avoid continuing down that path for the time being and head to the flame tower and dead man's wharf.

Avoiding the [&@%!] sword as regular weapon. I am considering doing the Towershield and [&@%!] sword as a "FINE! [&@%!] OFF!" moment where salty rage is occuring and I resort to it. A bit like Havel and Manus.

Magic is somewhat powerful but not overpowered so far. Granted, I am focusing on melee stats in a bid to get them up to 10-15 then gonna to focus on magic stuff. Along with health stats.

Newsflash, pine resin exists. Using poison all the time for PVE is meh, and not all bosses are vulnerable. Using it for your main weapon just nerfs your potential

I know but it seems to be limited and I may as well make use of the poison stone. I traded some silk and smooth stones to the crows.

I faced down Pursuer and died 4 or 5 times. Mostly from poor timing with dodges or me mistaking a telegraphed attack for the one I can usually parry. Amusingly, I dodged to my death. It's a shame that he doesn't really stalk you aside from several more encounters. Imagine having this fella show up randomly to kick your arse. A bit like Nemesis in Resident Evil 3. I kinda feel a bit cheap for using the bastilia on him though but it was a close fight.

Dragonrider is still easy. Just meant it would take longer to defeat and he almost did kill me but it was because of stupid rolling. If I summoned Masterless Glencour, Tarkus occurs. Ok, almost Tarkus occurs. Only Jester [&@%!] Thomas can Tarkus.

Felixe Sentry is quite easy with Lucatiel and I poisoned it with resin. Got the pyromancy flame and gonna to do lost bastila then huntre's copse and then chariot races. I will do Old Dragonslayer before that though. Gotta ditch the handaxe as it's no longer worth me refining. Tis +2 and I think a new weapon is required. The firelongsword may replace it as a right hander along with a left handed morningstar. Fashionsouls is in full effect! Got Falconer with Drangleic leggings, bandit bracers and hunter's hut. I look grossly incandessant. \o/

Once again, am overleveled for the areas according to the guide but doesn't feel like it. Seems like a healthy mixture of magic and melee.

The Ruin sentinels will be the biggest challenge, i think. Tis just the numbers and as a melee tank, I could afford to trade blows. As a magic melee tank being built up, it'll make for an interesting fight. Untill I say [&@%!] it and summon the NPC. I don't really care for the reduced souls as it's easy to make up for it.

Once I've gotten the melee stats(Dex and Strength) to 20, I'll focus on magic(Intel and Attune) with Vit being my main health stat. I am starting to wonder if Vit is meant to be the primary stat for health with Vigor only being there for Havel monsters/Tarkus tanks?

I am starting to learn to fear wooden chests again. I feared them in Dark Souls 1 because of Mimics but the traps. I fear the traps. Poison, I can handle. The explodey bolts? I cannea do it. It killed my beefy tank once.

I hope metal chests are not metal mimics. I would hate to fight one of those. O_O

It's limited from your point in the game, just about all titanite is farmable at some point.

In SoTFS, you do get harassed by them a bit more. But if your really wanting a nemesis following you around, there is a certain invader you can trigger thats a [&@%!] to deal with bc he always does so in inconvenient areas

I mean, I dont even know why ya bother with nonessential npc's and then also mention about overleveling and things being easy. Like, ya dont need them. I can at least understand the sidequest ones.. even if some of their bosses are redundant. Heck, if it wasnt of the sidequest, I wouldnt have to play babysitter during the smelter demon fight

Case in point, the Sentry. He's, meh. Never had a problem with him, and I forget if I always stuck on his sharp or blunt side, but whatever. Always killed him before the water reached my knees. And I'm saying this with and without Lucatiel's help. Since most NG+ rematches I did solo

RS or Tall-GankSquad(not to be confused with *The* GankSquad i.e DLC boss, or boss rush, or the flying monkeys at the bell tower) ya, those guys are fun. Took me a couple of tries to figure it out, but generally its all about pacing the battle and kiting the rest. That first platform you walk into is too small to fight them all off, but it gives you just enough time to kill off the first before taking on the other two down below. I typically saved my spells for that part, easy chip damage(since they are incredibly weak to magic) to soften them up before going in with my sword. Ya really gotta learn how to read n punish their movesets, since this aint the last you'll see of em(if ya thought three were hard, oh boy! Just wait)


Vigor is mainly for HP and has a different softcap than Vitality, but that doesnt mean it doesnt help contribute. But you gotta remember, Vitality is all about improving survivability too. Higher equip burden means heavier armor i.e better poise and defense. It also contributes to resistances. And while not every point directly will boost your HP, not being burdened is an undeniable boon. It's more obvious than Adaptability(which is a good stat for any class. Dat poise and I-frames)

Side note, bruh, dont neglect Faith, Hexes are your bread and butter. Just meeting the requirements for relevant spells or staffs can basically make ya DS2s best DPSer. Havelmonsters aint got [&@%!] on Hexes.

Mate, unlike in DS1, when I see a mimic, I'm happy AF. They always mean your gonna get great, rare loot, plus their souls aint a bad bonus. Their always metal, so I always poked em and if it was one, I put em to sleep till I was ready to kill.