help a dark souls 2 noob.

[sataricon]

So as i said i'm completely new to the souls series and i just got Dark souls 2.
Been playing it for over 5 hours now but man even in the forest of giants i get my ass kicked "the area with all he house on the right that you jump on them"

I know it's sad but i'm just not used to this game.

So help me out here guys will it be easier in the future?
it looks like a really good game and i don't want to throw it away.
did this happen to you when you started the game?

and i tried playing the knight and man got my ass handed to me so i was thinking of playing a mage...what do you think?

 

[mega lenin]

So help me out here guys will it be easier in the future?
it looks like a really good game and i don't want to throw it away.
did this happen to you when you started the game?

It happened to everybody whose ever started playing Dark Souls ever. It's Dark Souls. You die. And you die. And you die. And you git gud. And then you die again.

As a dark souls veteran I offer the following advice.

1.) Forget everything you've learned from previous hack and slash action games. This isn't a button masher. Combat is about tactics, patience, and timing.


2.) Put your shield up. I'm not kidding. When you know your enemies well enough to parry and dodge everything casually by all means two hand like a pro. When you are new to the game put your shield up and be more patient and methodical. Learn enemy tendencies and capabilities and exploit them by fighting patiently rather than trying to see if you can hit R1 faster than the computer. Fighting this way will allow you more time to watch your enemies more and learn how to read their animations and approach them. Yes the enemies do things that telegraph their intention if you pay attention enough.


3.) Circle around fatties and slow poke undead. Generally speaking a large fatty can generally be easily defeated by circling to their backside occasionally putting your shield up to take a swing in case you are still in their attack arc. Circling sword hand side is often ideal as many weapon arcs cover less of the sword hand side and more of the shield side on initial swings.

4.) At first lure enemies one at a time. Once you master them well enough for them to be a quick dispatch one on one you can try taking on the mobs. But when deciding to upgrade from one on one to mobs refer back to rule 2 and put your shield up.

5.) In Early game meleeing to learn combat I would suggest sticking with the knight, but dropping some of your armor to drop your weight so you can fast roll. Most of your early scrub enemies should have their attacks easily blocked with a decent medium shield. I would suggest learning combat with your shield up getting strikes on the hollows after one of your blocks breaks their attack and using your speed to circle for backstabs. Once you master those two components of Dark Souls warfare you can try out more advanced things like parrying and using the kick move to break a hollow's guard and then strike.

6.) Finally, remember to drop your shield guard down to speed up your stamina recovery. When in or near that red zone either circle out of their attack arc or back out.

 

[sataricon]

Thankx alot for this man.
In my frustration i deleted the game and now getting it again...Damn i love the feel of the game.
But what the hell i'm going to stick to it.

I will be using the knight as you suggested.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

So as i said i'm completely new to the souls series and i just got Dark souls 2.
Been playing it for over 5 hours now but man even in the forest of giants i get my ass kicked "the area with all he house on the right that you jump on them"

I know it's sad but i'm just not used to this game.

So help me out here guys will it be easier in the future?
it looks like a really good game and i don't want to throw it away.
did this happen to you when you started the game?

and i tried playing the knight and man got my ass handed to me so i was thinking of playing a mage...what do you think?

Dark Souls doesn't get easier, you just get better.

As far as advice goes, mega lenin nailed the generalities. Start off with a sword and board (melee class with a shield) and learn to manage your stamina well. There are 2 100% physical block shields that you can get in the early game, one from the forest of fallen giants and one from Heide's tower of flame, but both require you to beat fairly difficult enemies to get them.

The most important thing to remember is to always be patient. Don't rush in, even if things look safe, because Dark Souls loves to ambush you just when you feel most secure. Don't try to fight multiple enemies at a time if you don't have to. You can usually pull enemies one at a time from a distance if you have a bow (you can get a short bow in Blacksmith Lenegrast's house). Most importantly learn the attack patterns for every enemy you encounter. Chances are if you see an enemy you'll be encountering it more than once in that area, and probably again further into the game. It pays to learn what moves they can do and their timings.

Most importantly, don't get frustrated when you die. Yes, you'll lose souls, and yes souls are necessary for upgrades, but it's important to remember that you'll get more than enough souls to level up and upgrade your gear just by beating bosses. No matter how many times you die on a boss you'll still be able to power up your character after you finally beat them.

If you have any specific questions about the game feel free to ask me in any of the Dark Souls threads, or PM me directly if you want. I've gone through each of the games pretty extensively and I know my stuff as far as PvE goes.

Edit: Also don't play as a mage on your first playthrough. The melee combat in this game is SOO good and playing as a mage you'll miss a lot of the fun intricacies. Save the magic for a second playthrough, or a New Game Plus.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

You can also try summoning someone. On you first run there are always tons of summon signs down so you can call someone to help you. Just be warned, some people like to blitz through it and will get annoyed if you take the time to explore. Don't bother with those people.

Also, although many consider this cheating, there is a set number of times the enemies respawn. If you kill an enemy twelve times, they don't come back. So if you're really, really, really stuck, just focus on killing the enemies until they no longer show up.

Otherwise, it boils down to live and learn. Or, in most cases, die and learn.

 

[Diablo2000]

Thankx alot for this man.
In my frustration i deleted the game and now getting it again...Damn i love the feel of the game.
But what the hell i'm going to stick to it.

I will be using the knight as you suggested.

First order of business is to get a shield that don't fucking suck, Dark Souls 2 greatly nerfed shields in comparasion with Dark Souls that hands out 100% Physical Shields like is candy so you won't be encountering one of those for a while. There's a shop in Majulah that sells out a couple of shields, I suggest getting buying the Silver Eagle Kite Shield, it's a very good shield early on.
Also buying stuff from that guy will net you more stuff to buy, you need around 16,000 souls to unlock his final set (Well, he also sells Boss Armor, but you need to kill a boss first) which is the Alva Armor, a very, very good set, it has a very decent defense and is not very heavy. (Unless they nerfed it, haven't play it in a while)

 

[LostCrusader]

Well the only tips I can think of that haven't already been mentioned is to not be stingy with your healing items. Your flasks refill every time you stop at a bonfire and the game will continue to throw lifegems at you in handfuls. And if you take more hits than you want from enemies early in a region, take a moment and decide if its worth it to heal and keep going, or if you would be better off reseting the enemies and your flasks at the bonfire. That can save you from fighting all the way to the boss just to find yourself without any flasks.

 

[sataricon]

Will you know i was kinda of hasty when i deleted the game and my saves....i shouldn't have done that.
now that i'm thinking about it in this region in the forest of fallen giants i should have used the bow that i got to draw some of the enemies one at a time first but the rage took me
I'm talking about the place where the explosive barrels were in.

@Caramel Frappe
thanx man i play it on PC but i will ask for advise in here is the first question any way:

I found a good mace in the start in this madula place but then after hitting a couple of enemies it began to degrade "was using it with both hands because i didn't have a shield ATM.
How to prevent your weapon from degrading too fast or how to fix it?

thanx alot every one for helping me out.

 

[Mr Jack]

Sadly, durability is tied to framerate, so weapons on PC degrade twice as quickly. Weapons degrade quickly when hittting dead or dying enemies, so try to avoid hitting enemies that are already dead.

Also, many people miss that completing a coop session with either of white soapstones will fully replenish your humanity, Estus flasks, and equipment, while leaving all the enemies you killed dead.

 

[sataricon]

so a quick update:
My god does blocking help...against those spear and halberd hallows.

I will use Dxtory to limit my FPS to 30 because from what i hear the port of this game is very very bad.

This was helpful.
http://steamcommunity.com/app/236430/discussions/0/540742399400360842

 

[sataricon]

Ok so here is something interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVrlwnYkRMI

Maybe i wasn't very bad...maybe with 60FPS i was playing dark souls 2 : ultra hard edition.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

@Caramel Frappe
thanx man i play it on PC but i will ask for advise in here is the first question any way:

I found a good mace in the start in this madula place but then after hitting a couple of enemies it began to degrade "was using it with both hands because i didn't have a shield ATM.
How to prevent your weapon from degrading too fast or how to fix it?

thanx alot every one for helping me out.

Sadly for the PC version, due to the frame rates going as quickly (and smoothly) as the console versions... weapons degrade 2x faster with each hit upon an enemy or surface. The key is finding a ring called the 'Bracing Knuckles Ring' which makes weapons last longer. However, you won't run into this for awhile.

The default Mace that the Weapon Smith in Majula sells is a really good weapon believe it or not. The one you have is a cleric based mace called the Morning Star I believe (the one hanging off a cliff in Majula).

Again, feel free to personally message me as in sending me a message on The Escapist. We can keep in touch so you don't spam your own thread lol. Also what kind of build are you going for? What are your stats so far?

Actually cleric starts with default mace, not the morning star. The morning star also kind of sucks in comparison.

Blunt damage is best damage in Dark Souls 2 though, so the mace will help immensely. Armored enemies take more damage from "striking" weapons like hammers, clubs, maces, and caestus, so in areas where enemies are wearing lots of armor (which is most places) those weapons are fantastic. The morning star does some strike damage and some bleed damage whereas the mace does pure strike damage, and I've always found the mace to be the more useful of the two.

 

[The Heik]

So as i said i'm completely new to the souls series and i just got Dark souls 2.
Been playing it for over 5 hours now but man even in the forest of giants i get my ass kicked "the area with all he house on the right that you jump on them"

I know it's sad but i'm just not used to this game.

So help me out here guys will it be easier in the future?
it looks like a really good game and i don't want to throw it away.
did this happen to you when you started the game?

and i tried playing the knight and man got my ass handed to me so i was thinking of playing a mage...what do you think?

Bit of a shame that you picked up Dark Souls 2 before the other ones. While it's got a lot more newbie-friendly mechanics, it doesn't introduce a decent spread of equipment early on, so you'll mostly have crap until you've beaten a few of the bosses.

No matter though, I shall do my best to help you.

1) Get a shield. Now there's two shields that you can get fairly early on, and they both happen to be in the same area, the first of which is easy to get (like no enemies around easy) but only offer partial protection, while the other takes a little bit to grind, but has 100% physical protection.

Anyways, if you're in Majula, turn so that the sea is at your back and follow the right side of the cliff until you see a tunnel. Go in and follow it until you see a divot in the wall where there's a chest. open and you've found the Crimson Parma, which offers 75% physical protection. Not great, but you'll be able to take more of a hit.

If you want the 100% physical protection, keep following the same path to it's end, and you'll reach new area. The shield wielding enemies there occasionally drop their shield as loot, and while it's got a low durability, physical hits won't hurt you at all.

2) Get a bow. The blacksmith in Majula sells a short bow for cheap, and you'll love him for it because the ability to damage dudes ahead of time and bait mobs is just wonderful. He even sell wooden arrows for 10 souls a pop.

3) Put ranks into the Adaptability stat (ADP), as it does a lot of wonderful things. The biggest boon from it is that it speeds up certain actions such as using healing items, and it also makes your dodges more effective.

4) Equipment load. Lower tends to be better, as how much weight you've got on affects your capabilities in two major ways, namely a slower dodge roll and a slower stamina regen. If you're looking for good armor that keeps your weight down, the armor vendor will sell you the Alva Set after you've spent over 16,500 souls with him. It's light and has one of the best weight/protection ratios in the whole game.

5) Learn to circle strafe. You'd be amazed how many enemies are susceptible to it (even bosses), although sometimes you'll need to combine it with a dodge roll just to be safe. Just lock on, head towards their weapon side, and hit the music:




Well that's the best advice I can give without spoiling much. If you ever need help any help, just send me a PM, as I'd be happy to help in any way I can

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

@Caramel Frappe
thanx man i play it on PC but i will ask for advise in here is the first question any way:

I found a good mace in the start in this madula place but then after hitting a couple of enemies it began to degrade "was using it with both hands because i didn't have a shield ATM.
How to prevent your weapon from degrading too fast or how to fix it?

thanx alot every one for helping me out.

Sadly for the PC version, due to the frame rates going as quickly (and smoothly) as the console versions... weapons degrade 2x faster with each hit upon an enemy or surface. The key is finding a ring called the 'Bracing Knuckles Ring' which makes weapons last longer. However, you won't run into this for awhile.

The default Mace that the Weapon Smith in Majula sells is a really good weapon believe it or not. The one you have is a cleric based mace called the Morning Star I believe (the one hanging off a cliff in Majula).

Again, feel free to personally message me as in sending me a message on The Escapist. We can keep in touch so you don't spam your own thread lol. Also what kind of build are you going for? What are your stats so far?

Actually cleric starts with default mace, not the morning star. The morning star also kind of sucks in comparison.

Blunt damage is best damage in Dark Souls 2 though, so the mace will help immensely. Armored enemies take more damage from "striking" weapons like hammers, clubs, maces, and caestus, so in areas where enemies are wearing lots of armor (which is most places) those weapons are fantastic. The morning star does some strike damage and some bleed damage whereas the mace does pure strike damage, and I've always found the mace to be the more useful of the two.

.. But, I already knew that lol. >_>

Clerics start out with the mace-but I do not know what our friend here (aka the OP) started out with. He said knight, so I assume he's talking about the starter knight class. The Morning Star is a cleric's weapon, but not their default one you get when picking their class.

I'm a Dark Souls 2 veteran, I will not allow you to correct me on anything or whatever good sir!

... I kid. I can make mistakes too- but I am serious about already being aware of that fact. The best Cleric weapon is probably The Defender Greatsword when infused with lightning. It's pretty wicked and best weapon I know of when infused with lightning overall. However, my favorite weapon is probably the Great Club (max 50 strength it grants 420 + 210 if not more when boosting it with Ring of Blades) due to pancaking people and enemies, all while being a huge help as a phantom with the beast.

Haven't been keeping up with faith builds (I did a faith run before they got nerfed) but didn't the defender greatsword get nerfed pretty bad? Also it's hard to say that it's the best cleric weapon because even though it's pretty godlike (or at least it was), you get it so late in the game that you don't really get a chance to use it much until you go into NG+, which not everyone is going to do.

My favorite faith build weapon was the black knight halberd (yeah, very original, I know) because spin to win. Favorite weapon overall has to be dual caestus for me, at least right now. There's nothing more satisfying than walking up to a monster 10x your size and then beating it to death with your fists. I mean really, who needs silly things like range, or damage, or defense. No one can stop my ultimate "punch you in the face until you die" technique.

 

[Mister K]

My only experience with Souls games is Demon's Souls, which to be honest I am playing right now for the first time, but I've already defeated all bosses except for archdemon of Boletaria, so maybe my tips will be somehow useful. Oh, I also watched SBFP DSII let's play, so there is that.

OK, back to the tips:
1. Miracles are useful. I know that one of the patches hit them hard with nerfbat, but consider this: You'll have , in the essence, additional estus flask charges with healing miracles. It is ill-advisable to use them during combat, but outside of it it's is a great way to support yourself. Also, there is a miracle that let's you travel to the last bonfire you visited. I am not saying that you should go all faith-knight with faith-based weapons, but having a few useful spells is nice.

2. Don't go full mage. No, seriously, you are out of charges and you can only hack your way through with some useless knife.

3. As others said, use the shield. Don't forget to drop it when enemy is not attacking (to regain stamina faster).

4. Always think and be calm. Souls games hate rushers/

5. It would be nice to have weapons that deal different types of damage, obviously. Inj early game, I don't think it's wrong to have a basic spear, a basic sword and a basic mace.

6. Don't forget about ranged weapons, i.e. bow and/or crossbow. IMO bow is better, but whatever strikes you fancy.

7. Don't forget to unload both useless and useful but not right now gear. You don't want to over burden yourself and going through all of the inventory can take a lot of needful time.

 

[Ulquiorra4sama]

-Snip-

I saw one thread dealing with Caestus builds where the title was something along the lines of "THE STUNLOCK IS REAL!!!". I'm gonna guess that was PvP though 'cause in my entire playthrough with Caestus i don't think i stunned a single enemy unless i was in an area i'd already beaten and leveled past. Smelter Hammer is the shit though.

OT: I didn't see any mentions of this, but if you're going with a shield you're gonna want to get into the habit of something i like to call "Active Guard" or as some people call it "Drop your fucking shield".

Basically, if you're strafing an enemy and they're not attacking you you're gonna want to make sure you get into the habit of not walking around with your shield up as this really screws with your stamina regeneration. If you drop it when there's no immediate danger (i.e. you're not getting pummeled) you'll have leftover stamina to attack and to actually put up your guard when there's actual need for it.

Stability is important, and honestly i think one of the best early game shields you find is the Large Leather Shield which should be somewhere around the Forest area before the first boss. It's only got 90% dmg reduction, but 40 stability. Carried me for a good portion of the game until i found a 100% one. But if you do scrape together enough souls to buy the Silver Eagle that one's definitely better, it just takes more effort to get.

 

[Rednog]

Dark Souls 2 was pretty much my introduction into the series, I highly recommend watching the first few episodes of the Two Best Friends doing this game. It is honestly the most solid introduction into the game and how stuff works, after the first 10 or so episodes I dove into the game and quickly bypassed them and had an incredibly solid starting point in the game and was able to just fly through the rest of the content.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD-rgHP7RdE&list=PL57hJfweW_2t9hMXgGAYZF46ouOlvXy5b

 

[loa]

It'll not become easier, it'll become a lot harder but you'll also become better at the game and then, if you restart the game, you'll just blow through the areas you have so much trouble with right now.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

-Snip-

I saw one thread dealing with Caestus builds where the title was something along the lines of "THE STUNLOCK IS REAL!!!". I'm gonna guess that was PvP though 'cause in my entire playthrough with Caestus i don't think i stunned a single enemy unless i was in an area i'd already beaten and leveled past. Smelter Hammer is the shit though.

Actually the stunlock is in fact real. If you powerstance dual caestus with the stone ring, and use the L1 (LB) 1-2 punch, you can stunlock pretty much every enemy that isn't double your size. The 1-2 punch with the stone ring does TONS of poise damage, and even enemies with high poise, like PvE red phantoms, get completely wrecked.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Dark Souls 2 was pretty much my introduction into the series, I highly recommend watching the first few episodes of the Two Best Friends doing this game. It is honestly the most solid introduction into the game and how stuff works, after the first 10 or so episodes I dove into the game and quickly bypassed them and had an incredibly solid starting point in the game and was able to just fly through the rest of the content.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD-rgHP7RdE&list=PL57hJfweW_2t9hMXgGAYZF46ouOlvXy5b

Or, you know, don't. Seriously, every episode Pat gets at least 2 major things wrong about how the game mechanics work. You're better off not listening to him. He spent multiple episodes telling Woolie that the crossbow can't be hard aimed, and was constantly wrong about various equipment stats, and he was consistently wrong about the locations of important items.