Dark Souls 2: Shade Forest and Lion Warriors

Kukakkau

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Realitycrash said:
I'm having trouble fighting these with my my Sorcerer. They are immune to all my magic, and I don't have very strong physical stats. I keep reading that they are weak to backstabs, but when I backstab with a theif-dagger it does around 25-40 damage. That's less than a spell! How am I suppose to beat these guys?
You could try picking up a few pyromancy spells to try on them (I don't know if they are fire resistant) since they have no stat requirement to use, just the flame.
 

Tallim

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garjian said:
Realitycrash said:
I'm having trouble fighting these with my my Sorcerer. They are immune to all my magic, and I don't have very strong physical stats. I keep reading that they are weak to backstabs, but when I backstab with a theif-dagger it does around 25-40 damage. That's less than a spell! How am I suppose to beat these guys?
You're not, to be blunt.
They're magic resistant and that's that. Great design eh?

This is by far the easiest area in the game to just run past everything though so, do that.

Also, just a side note, backstabbing is not the best way to kill them anyway. Let them attack, and simply walk backwards slightly... they'll miss and you can get attacks in. If you have a decent weapon set you can usually kill them from avoiding just one attack, but if you can't, don't get greedy.
+3 Dagger backstab kills them on NG and they are stupidly easy to avoid, especially as a mage because Atunement raises agility for those precious iFrames.
 

Tallim

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Realitycrash said:
Sabitsuki said:
I just did this section with my magey character. You don't need to put any stats into melee, just grab your normal Dagger (not Thief), and whatever the best shield you can manage. The first two always come in a pair from what I can tell, just run back to the bonfire and wait for them to start heading back to take them one on one. Block and strafe around them until they open themselves up for a backstab. With about 7 str and 7 dex and 0 upgrades for my dagger, the backstab should still do around somewhere around 450-600 damage, shouldn't take more than two to kill each one.
I can't find any normal dagger, though.I sold the one I started with and the one found in Things Betwixt. So, now what do I do? And why would a normal dagger do 450dmg but a thief-dagger do 25? I mean sure it is a worse dagger, but almost twenty times as less?
I use a Bandit Knife on my mage and although it doesn't do quite as much damage as a dagger it does enough that unupgraded you only need a couple of spells to finish them off
 

Naqel

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Do what I did, and what every sane sorcerer before me did.

Call in a sunbro.
 

MetalShadowChaos

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I can definitely see why you'd have trouble with that place. I was lucky I'd been investing to be able to use Ultragreatswords as well as my magic(at the expense of still having base health(sans negligible bonuses from every non vit stat)), since you can cheese them pretty easy in the building to the left when you first encounter them. They can't fit through the door, so lure them all there and cheese away with a weapon that has a decent length. I don't know what else works other than Ultras, but I'm sure you'll think of something.
 

Fat Hippo

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Hmmm, I just started my second run of the game, and since my first character was a tanky knight, this area wasn't very hard, but I'm glad for the advice here, as I'm playing as a sorcerer now, and can imagine how frustrating this is.

So, is not pumping a single point into strength and dexterity a viable strategy in DS2? I'm thinking of just sticking with this dagger and upgrading it for situations that demand some kind of physical weapon, using great magic weapon on it when I need to, or is that a dumb idea?
 

PrimitiveJudge

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weirdo8977 said:
PrimitiveJudge said:
Pure sorcerer here, I used the magic mace you get in the skeleton cave in Huntman's Copse. Just level it up a few times and it should be good enough, however it does jack on NG+ grr.
What do you use for NG+ then? Cause the only thing I can see viable is the moonlight greatsword.
Heavy Great Soul Arrow still works well, sorceries still are good an all but you loose a lot of them by the time you reach the scorpion boss. I got 65 INT before NG+ so now I have started to put points into faith, miracles work good on them (except for the gold one). They are super tough, but only a minor herdle.

EDIT: oh and if you frustrated, invade someone while they are in shaded woods. It is funny as hell.
 

garjian

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PrimitiveJudge said:
Pure sorcerer here, I used the magic mace you get in the skeleton cave in Huntman's Copse. Just level it up a few times and it should be good enough, however it does jack on NG+ grr.
weirdo8977 said:
What do you use for NG+ then? Cause the only thing I can see viable is the moonlight greatsword.
PrimitiveJudge said:
Heavy Great Soul Arrow still works well, sorceries still are good an all but you loose a lot of them by the time you reach the scorpion boss. I got 65 INT before NG+ so now I have started to put points into faith, miracles work good on them (except for the gold one). They are super tough, but only a minor herdle.

EDIT: oh and if you frustrated, invade someone while they are in shaded woods. It is funny as hell.
No seriously, just walk past them... As in, you can actually just walk by them. You don't even need to jog yet alone sprint.

Why compromise your build for the sake of 4 enemies you may as well not fight? It ain't pure sorcery if you're using a mace is it?

Moonlight Greatsword shouldn't do much either as they are, after all, resistant to the magic... I've never tried because on any build reliant on magic after my first. I just walk on by, gesturing occasionally.
 

PrimitiveJudge

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garjian said:
PrimitiveJudge said:
Pure sorcerer here, I used the magic mace you get in the skeleton cave in Huntman's Copse. Just level it up a few times and it should be good enough, however it does jack on NG+ grr.
weirdo8977 said:
What do you use for NG+ then? Cause the only thing I can see viable is the moonlight greatsword.
PrimitiveJudge said:
Heavy Great Soul Arrow still works well, sorceries still are good an all but you loose a lot of them by the time you reach the scorpion boss. I got 65 INT before NG+ so now I have started to put points into faith, miracles work good on them (except for the gold one). They are super tough, but only a minor herdle.

EDIT: oh and if you frustrated, invade someone while they are in shaded woods. It is funny as hell.
No seriously, just walk past them... As in, you can actually just walk by them. You don't even need to jog yet alone sprint.

Why compromise your build for the sake of 4 enemies you may as well not fight? It ain't pure sorcery if you're using a mace is it?

Moonlight Greatsword shouldn't do much either as they are, after all, resistant to the magic... I've never tried because on any build reliant on magic, I just walk on by, gesturing occasionally.
Granted on the avoiding thing. However I am a freak, I want my sorcerer merchant dressed in Lions garb. BTW no idea wheta would happen if you encountered the "dark" by skipping
 

Bombiz

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garjian said:
PrimitiveJudge said:
Pure sorcerer here, I used the magic mace you get in the skeleton cave in Huntman's Copse. Just level it up a few times and it should be good enough, however it does jack on NG+ grr.
weirdo8977 said:
What do you use for NG+ then? Cause the only thing I can see viable is the moonlight greatsword.
PrimitiveJudge said:
Heavy Great Soul Arrow still works well, sorceries still are good an all but you loose a lot of them by the time you reach the scorpion boss. I got 65 INT before NG+ so now I have started to put points into faith, miracles work good on them (except for the gold one). They are super tough, but only a minor herdle.

EDIT: oh and if you frustrated, invade someone while they are in shaded woods. It is funny as hell.
No seriously, just walk past them... As in, you can actually just walk by them. You don't even need to jog yet alone sprint.

Why compromise your build for the sake of 4 enemies you may as well not fight? It ain't pure sorcery if you're using a mace is it?

Moonlight Greatsword shouldn't do much either as they are, after all, resistant to the magic... I've never tried because on any build reliant on magic after my first. I just walk on by, gesturing occasionally.
nah g. i got by them by using a mace. it's really simple once you get them by them selves. its the first 2 that are hard. since they both agro at the same time. though if your patient its doable. I think I might make a hybrid mage/dex melee build. pure mage sucks if you come across magic resistant mobs.
 

garjian

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weirdo8977 said:
pure mage sucks if you come across magic resistant mobs.
But those are the only magic resistant enemies in the entire game...

Not that I'm saying every sorcerer needs to be pure, but if that's what you want, it's more than plausible... The only issues I've come across are PvP issues, specifically Profound Still and the Magic Barriers of course, and Magic Barrier is still gonna be a big problem for how most people set up spell/melee hybrid builds anyway.
 

cikame

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Oh geez that sounds like a real problem, i don't have a spell character i went Dex, my strategy was to get close then back off forcing them to swing and miss, then poke with a spear while they were recovering.

There must be a spell or hex which works well against them.
 

Robyrt

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Lion Warriors are very resistant to all forms of elemental damage. Don't even bother using spells, save them for the boss and the frogs. Instead, just use your trusty Magic or Enchanted melee weapons. They can easily be baited into whiffing an attack, at which point you can get in a couple swings or roll around them for a backstab. I ended up doing a lot of dodging with my Faith build against these guys, but my Lightning Halberd was able to whittle them down with just the physical component of its damage.

The basic Dagger is great for parries and backstabs, but any thrusting weapon (rapiers, lances etc.) is also good enough to do several hundred damage without investing all your money in upgrade stones.

On a related note, the Shrine of Amana is rough for pure melee builds, but that's just an arbitrary restriction you're putting on yourself anyway. Even a strength or pyromancy build can equip a crossbow and snipe those enemy casters.
 

Bombiz

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garjian said:
weirdo8977 said:
pure mage sucks if you come across magic resistant mobs.
But those are the only magic resistant enemies in the entire game...

Not that I'm saying every sorcerer needs to be pure, but if that's what you want, it's more than plausible... The only issues I've come across are PvP issues, specifically Profound Still and the Magic Barriers of course, and Magic Barrier is still gonna be a big problem for how most people set up spell/melee hybrid builds anyway.
I tried useing magic against the boss of that area. she's magic resistant as hell. the summons did more damage then my spells. my fire longsword did more. of atleast the same.
 

garjian

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weirdo8977 said:
garjian said:
weirdo8977 said:
pure mage sucks if you come across magic resistant mobs.
But those are the only magic resistant enemies in the entire game...

Not that I'm saying every sorcerer needs to be pure, but if that's what you want, it's more than plausible... The only issues I've come across are PvP issues, specifically Profound Still and the Magic Barriers of course, and Magic Barrier is still gonna be a big problem for how most people set up spell/melee hybrid builds anyway.
I tried useing magic against the boss of that area. she's magic resistant as hell. the summons did more damage then my spells. my fire longsword did more. of atleast the same.
That's odd. I tried a pure sorcerer again (the first was a hybrid pyromancer/sorcerer and the didn't work out) no more recent than 5 days ago.
I:
Rushed through Heide's and No Man's for Carrilion's spells(I don't think I bothered with Flexile Sentry),
Rushed to Skeleton Lords,
Then I did Executioner's Chariot for the bonfire there in case the Ascetic affected it (which it didn't)
Used the starting gift Ascetic on the Lords and did them again for Clear Bluestone +2,
Got the branch from the start of Harvest Valley,
Bought Chloanne's Ascetic and Headed straight to Shaded Woods,
Beat Najka,
Used the Ascetic there and beat her again for Southern Ritual Band +2.

The hardest part by far was the NG+ Skeleton Lords because the Bonewheel's could 1-shot me. I remember the ease of Najka being a relief, although on NG+ my plain old Sorcerer's Catalyst nearly broke. I did die to her actually because I got stuck on some twigs, but I'd just gotten to 40INT by that point and equipped the Soul Spear you get from Huntsman's, and she went down even quicker.
If she does resist magic in any way and I guess it makes some sense that she would, I don't recall doing lower numbers than I'd done the other two, so she has a lot less health than I remember from previous builds to say the least. The only time I was really worried about running out of spells was the NG+ Lords, and my catalyst actually did break in there.
I finished that build very quickly actually... it was a lot easier than I was expecting.