Dark Souls 2 invasion system

[White Lightning]

Ah. Well that seems okay then. If you can take on the likes of the Smelter Demon and Old Iron King at level 1, a few chosen undead shouldn't be too difficult
And really? Not even upgrading equipment?

I'm upgrading equipment, but for the most part I just buy bombs and throwing knives. Surprisingly you have a lot of souls left over even if you max out all those. The Smelter Demon was rough but the Iron King was really easy, I'm worried about the Throne guys and Nashandra. The Ruin Sentinels were pretty hard so the Throne guys worry me and Nashandras curse effect will probably kill me before I can do anything.

Regarding Nashandra

Spoiler

Curse doesn't kill you, Just takes max health. So unless you get hella cursed and still die, it won't bother you too much. Nashandra is easy. The throne guys are actually much harder.

I should of been more specific, the curse orbs have a DOT effect. Normally you're a higher level so it isn't as noticeable but as a lvl 1 it can probably kill me.

The Throne guys will definitely be a pain. My buddy who was doing it with me said he caved and summoned people to help, what a noob.

 

[White Lightning]

[

Now MY question for the peoples, what the hell is wrong with the arenas?

Nothing's wrong with the arenas, a lot is wrong with the people in them. A lot will mess with their connection to lag their way to a backstab on you.

Well shit it's Gears of War 2 all over again. I had no idea people could do that, thanks for the info.

 

[garjian]

In hundreds of hours of play in various NG+s and across 14 characters, I got invaded a total of 11 times by reds.

If it's blues that are your problem, don't sin... If it's reds, I envy you. I wished for some kind of interaction the whole way through, and got none until being a sinner in NG+.

 

[TaintedSaint]

I'm on NG++ and still have never been invaded not once.

 

[gigastar]

Your chances of being summoned vary wildly depending on where you leave your sign. Also having 15m+ soul memory raises your chances significantly.

For example, leaving your sign outside a boss room isnt going to get you summoned as often as if you left it at the bonfire nearest to that boss room.

For example, yessterday i was assisting players with NG+ Smelter Demon, and throughout 8 summons there was less than 3 minuites of downtime.

 

[Vrach]

Well shit it's Gears of War 2 all over again. I had no idea people could do that, thanks for the info.

Well, putting aside the fact that the tactic's common knowledge since at least Dark Souls, if not Demon's as well, I've seen it first hand in the BoB arena. A guy walks up to the middle normally, I bow, he waves. I lift my shield a few times to signal we're good for combat, he moves a few steps, then starts visibly lagging and 5 seconds later he's behind me in a backstab with a one-hit-kill weapon. The game allows you to move around and just compensates for the lag by spawning you (from a third person standpoint) to where you're supposed to be according to the client. So it's quite easy to abuse this and just backstab your opponent. It's kind of the ultimate skill-less dick move.

Your chances of being summoned vary wildly depending on where you leave your sign. Also having 15m+ soul memory raises your chances significantly.

I've said this twice before in the above posts, so I'll just sum up:
- Placing a summon sign outside a boss room and waiting on top of the summon sign - wait time=infinite (sign will sooner or later get removed by an invasion that typically comes within 5-10 minutes and there's no chance of getting summoned from my experience)
- Placing a summon sign on the same spot and going inside to prevent an invasion - wait time=2 minutes tops

If it's blues that are your problem, don't sin... If it's reds, I envy you. I wished for some kind of interaction the whole way through, and got none until being a sinner in NG+.

Don't sin is easier said than done. I figured I'd mostly just spend my time PvPing, so I invaded some 100 times or so, probably more. It's gonna take a while until the Blues get my sin level off. I suppose I could just use up my Souls, turn on the game for a day, leave myself in a PvP hotspot and let my character get killed repeatedly. A day of AFKing might get my sin level down to a decent level.

But it feels a bit like a fuck you to the red phantoms. I get that they're seen as dicks mostly, but it's a part of the game and one many find fun (as you yourself said, you wish you would be attacked more by reds... I felt the same way in NG). Meanwhile, you can do the same shit as a blue phantom with no repercussions, only difference being that you need the Tokens from co-op to duel, though in NG+ you can just buy your orbs easily.

 

[gigastar]

Your chances of being summoned vary wildly depending on where you leave your sign. Also having 15m+ soul memory raises your chances significantly.

I've said this twice before in the above posts, so I'll just sum up:
- Placing a summon sign outside a boss room and waiting on top of the summon sign - wait time=infinite (sign will sooner or later get removed by an invasion that typically comes within 5-10 minutes and there's no chance of getting summoned from my experience)
- Placing a summon sign on the same spot and going inside to prevent an invasion - wait time=2 minutes tops

You mean to tell me that you never knew that resting at a bonfire protects you from invasions?

In addition if youve beaten that boss then you can place the sign outside then step into the boss arena, where invasion is impossible.

 

[EHKOS]

Is that why I had to start swatting blue people away every few minutes? Huh, never thought it was connected to NG+. Yeah, that was annoying, I haven't had to deal with it since I started playing Watch Dogs. Speaking of online rage...

 

[demoman_chaos]

I was pissing about at McDuff's trying to figure out what infusions I wanted to make on my weapons and was invaded (this is NG after I long since cleared the area). I handily destroyed them with my Sun Spear (the Sun mother fucka', do you praise it?). Later one I was testing damage output on the first enemy by the first Heide's bonfire on this same character still in NG, and I was invaded in about 1 minute (great magic barrier, dual washing poles each with some buff cast on them).

As a level 60 character, I was raided by a full havel great magic barrier invisible weapon using guy who moved quite quickly and hit me with a powerful lightning attack while at the Huntsman's Copse bonfire under the bridge.

I have had no problem really finding people to summon me as a Sun Bro, save for the time of night I had to play.

 

[Vrach]

You mean to tell me that you never knew that resting at a bonfire protects you from invasions?

It didn't use to in Dark Souls, I know that for sure, your character would just get up from a bonfire when the invasion started. In DS2, I've heard as much, but I've seen on at least one occasion, my character getting up from a bonfire and getting invaded. Could've happened while she was just taking a seat though, but I don't know.

In addition if youve beaten that boss then you can place the sign outside then step into the boss arena, where invasion is impossible.

I know mate, I've said the same thing three times in the above posts, one of which is the one you've quoted when you wrote that.

Is that why I had to start swatting blue people away every few minutes? Huh, never thought it was connected to NG+. Yeah, that was annoying, I haven't had to deal with it since I started playing Watch Dogs. Speaking of online rage...

It's not NG+ exclusive, you'd see it in NG as well if you stood in an invade-able area for a while (while not invading yourself, because it cuts them off). In NG+ however, you can buy the orbs for both the Blues and the Reds, so it takes out the hassle of having to grind them through the Arena, leading to much more invaders sitting in NG+ (you can't get invaded or co-op cross-NG according to the text when you start NG+)

 

[gigastar]

You mean to tell me that you never knew that resting at a bonfire protects you from invasions?

It didn't use to in Dark Souls, I know that for sure, your character would just get up from a bonfire when the invasion started. In DS2, I've heard as much, but I've seen on at least one occasion, my character getting up from a bonfire and getting invaded. Could've happened while she was just taking a seat though, but I don't know.

From what i can tell, the protection becomes active just as the mist effect starts clearing. I left a character sitting at Hiedes for 3 hours and i came back to find him the way i left him.

 

[Vrach]

From what i can tell, the protection becomes active just as the mist effect starts clearing. I left a character sitting at Hiedes for 3 hours and i came back to find him the way i left him.

Yeah, possibly. As I said, I saw it once just as I was sitting down, she sat, got up and the invader message popped up. I usually leave my sign in front of the boss gate though, which worked fine in NG with no invaders, but is impossible if you're a sinner (unless you've beat the boss already and can hide out in his room).

I got the habit from my first playthrough once I've realised that helping someone refreshes your Estuses, gets you back your Humanity and most importantly, repairs your gear (I'm running a Dexterity katana build, so it's a great boost to make sure my weapon doesn't fall apart mid-boss fight)

Which reminds be btw, anyone miss the time when you'd put your sign down at the beginning of the area and help someone all the way through it? I've tried a few times in DS2, but it takes ages to get summoned (compared to placing it in front of the fog gate) and usually it's people who go right for the boss as they've unlocked the shortcuts and the boss is a few mobs away :\

I used to love leading people through an entire area, rather than just help them cheese the bosses. There was something satisfying about showing them the hidden areas, often missed loot, how to avoid traps and such

 

[JagermanXcell]

This is a big issue with Dks2's invasion system and pvp in general.
It goes from being practically empty (NG) to batshit insane (NG+) in the blink of an eye. It's worse when you consider there's no infinite orb in the game. You have to either A. Buy an expensive amount or B. Compete in Dragleic's biggest cheese off for them (arena). I reeeeeally envy reds, cause blues get not only easy to farm blue orbs but the ability to invade any area that has a sinner even when they're not stationed there for invasions. And then there's Soul Memory, where no matter how good or bad you are, it will increase as a punishment for simply playing the game... in which after the 15mil SM mark you WILL get paired with the most cookie cutter high level mofos on the planet, and you will get wrecked...
over and over again. So not only do hosts suffer in the long run, invaders do as well and not by the traditional means you would expect.

I'm not saying a host should absolutely get invaded all the time, but the way this new invasion system is set up, it's simply not fun or as active as it should have been.

Dks1 had it's issues with the invasion system, the main one being twinks. But being invaded while hollow EVER SO RARELY NOW/in such a poorly programmed way of matchmaking, makes me really miss the consistency Dks1 had.
Wasn't this game supposed to be better?
Oh wait, B team.

 

[demoman_chaos]

It didn't use to in Dark Souls, I know that for sure, your character would just get up from a bonfire when the invasion started. In DS2, I've heard as much, but I've seen on at least one occasion, my character getting up from a bonfire and getting invaded. Could've happened while she was just taking a seat though, but I don't know.

I remember clearly in Dark Souls 1 resting at the bonfire just before the Demon Firesage when invaded. I was poking through the menu for something when it booted me out. I was greatly confused as to what was going on. It wouldn't let me rest and my homeward bone was blacked out. I don't remember what happened with the invasion itself (I may have simply quit the game because of how bullshit that was).

 

[garjian]

Meanwhile, you can do the same shit as a blue phantom with no repercussions, only difference being that you need the Tokens from co-op to duel, though in NG+ you can just buy your orbs easily.

Blue phantoms get sin too.

Yes, that is stupid.

 

[Vrach]

Meanwhile, you can do the same shit as a blue phantom with no repercussions, only difference being that you need the Tokens from co-op to duel, though in NG+ you can just buy your orbs easily.

Blue phantoms get sin too.

Yes, that is stupid.

Erm, source? You can get invaded even if you're a Blue Phantom if you're a sinner, but successful kills as a Blue Phantom should not increase sin count (and I can't find it anywhere that it does)

 

[garjian]

Meanwhile, you can do the same shit as a blue phantom with no repercussions, only difference being that you need the Tokens from co-op to duel, though in NG+ you can just buy your orbs easily.

Blue phantoms get sin too.

Yes, that is stupid.

Erm, source? You can get invaded even if you're a Blue Phantom if you're a sinner, but successful kills as a Blue Phantom should not increase sin count (and I can't find it anywhere that it does)

I'm on holiday right now, but in 5 days or so I can easily record a quick clip of a character who has never used Red Eye Orb invading with Blues and becoming a sinner.
Anecdotally I can tell you that each of my Blue Sentinel characters (I tend to choose between BS or BoB based on the character's alignment) have run into an issue at some point where my Blue Eye Orb use is interrupted by a Blue Sentinel. Instances in which I've lost to that invader put me back below the sin level, but after a few invasions it's back to sinner.
This is odd given how sin works, and must mean that not all invasions are giving me sin... but the fact is, Blue Orbs are giving me Sinner status one way or another. I can't find any reference to it online either, but there's no questioning that that's what's been happening to me. The only thing I can think of if it's not the invasions themselves is a bug with poison kills.

I assumed this was normal because nobody I've told has ever seemed surprised, and actually I remember doing blue invasions at the Tower of Flame with a friend recently we both became sinners. I summoned him and he watched me fight some guys as I was trying to show him how much Dagger's (well, Mytha's Blade's) damage varies with armour values (which is ridiculous by the way... it can be as high as 300 or as low as 12, same stats, same weapons).

Geez, I can even remember the first time it happened! It was the first time I ever heard Wacther's Shield's cool bell sound, and that guy was the first person to parry that dual-Dagger character (who was using actual Daggers at the time) and really make me worry about parrying on him. This was a few days after release in Shaded Woods, it was a female character in Watcher's Armour... I don't recall the weapon they were using, but other than that I remember it as clear as day.

No source apparently, just that. If that's not normal, I guess you're right about Blues getting to do the same thing with no punishment either way, so I guess at this point it doesn't really matter... but that's what happens to me.

 

[joest01]

At high enough SM level the wait for an invader in Heide's is close to 0. You can get chain invasions there. Beats getting tokens for the arena.

But I have popped the disc out and retired. Was starting to get the old flame messages from players. I stopped playing Demon's because of the same thing. (for the record: pure melee, no shield, light armor, I am very beatable)

I still think they should completely anonymize pvp. i.e. no players met log. And provide a decent mechanism for tournaments.

 

[Vrach]

At high enough SM level the wait for an invader in Heide's is close to 0. You can get chain invasions there. Beats getting tokens for the arena.

But I have popped the disc out and retired. Was starting to get the old flame messages from players. I stopped playing Demon's because of the same thing. (for the record: pure melee, no shield, light armor, I am very beatable)

I still think they should completely anonymize pvp. i.e. no players met log. And provide a decent mechanism for tournaments.

Try the PC version, I've done a ton of invasions and never got a single message, as you have to add someone on Steam in order to message them