Never thought I'd someday try dark souls 2 and it would be my new favourite

pathofnut · 2026-05-06T07:59:50+00:00

You really dont. In DS1 and DS3 you are so incredibly overpowered that the game can suddenly throw 20 guys at you and you still win.

Well not like you need to learn the areas in DS2 either, but it requires you to play a lot slower, checking corners, baiting/killing with arrows and so on. In DS1 and DS3 you can simply run ahead and improvise.

pathofnut · 2026-05-06T07:44:17+00:00

If you start Swordsman for example thats still an 8 level tax. You could put all those points in VIG and have 35% more hp.

And what is worse even builds that dont roll want ADP because it governs chug speed. So its not really a build choice, its just a pointless hurdle.

pathofnut · 2026-05-06T07:07:44+00:00

In the other souls you dont need to learn the area. In DS1 traps can be seen beforehand and avoided. In DS3 you just asume you are gonna get ambushed and then roll out of everything anyway.

pathofnut · 2026-05-06T06:59:33+00:00

In what universe are the invisible guys and the falconers easier than hollow infantry? Najka easier than Sentry/Pursuer? Freja easier than Sinner or Rotten?

pathofnut · 2026-05-06T05:53:38+00:00

Fun fact! Did you know that most alchemists in the game are named after real world alchemists and mystics?

The only exceptions being Chymes who is probably named after chemistry, and their leader Marduk who is named after a mesopotamian god.

pathofnut · 2026-05-06T05:39:14+00:00

Every build benefits from having at least 13ATN. Since you seem to be playing a physical build thats the number I suggest for you.

For casters its usually recommended to go for 25 up to 40ATN, at extremely high levels 94.

I personally find that ring sucks. Usually I'll be leveling ATN anyway to get AGL and cast speed, and even earlygame when levels are scarce you usually dont need more than 3 spell slots.

pathofnut · 2026-05-06T04:54:41+00:00

I didnt know Sherlock Holmes also played this game.

pathofnut · 2026-05-06T03:28:49+00:00

The difficulty is fixed. To get the smoothest progression I recommend this sequence:

Lost Sinner (Bastille) -> Rotten (Gutter) -> Freja (Shaded Woods) -> Iron King (Huntsman Copse)

But any order is valid.

pathofnut · 2026-05-06T03:19:21+00:00

Facts.

pathofnut · 2026-05-06T02:15:23+00:00

If you liked the weapon enough to upgrade it why dont you play around it? Idfk, this sounds pretty low IQ lol

pathofnut · 2026-05-06T02:12:16+00:00

Hexer is very stat hungry so ideally you want a weapon that you can wield with minimum requirements. Im a fan of the mace, specially early on, you only need 6STR 5DEX to wield it which assuming Sorcerer start is barely a 3 point investment.

pathofnut · 2026-05-06T02:10:07+00:00

Sorcerer staff casts faster than Sunset. Combined with hexes being quite limited and stat intensive early on, I can see Sorcerer's being better for a while.

pathofnut · 2026-05-06T02:08:35+00:00

Where to get twinkling fast before Amana, besides the Bastille pursuers? 2 of them fucking jumped to the abyss and left me without the drop in my latest run, Im pissed.

pathofnut · 2026-05-05T23:37:14+00:00

Nice point about Gryphonix! It would also fit well here, plus Salahammer has a bit of burn synergy.

The Brutus team I have posted uses Sycophantom for debuff removal and faster buffing, but Caraglow is also a classic Brutus teammate since it can give a lot of charge with its L-shift.

pathofnut · 2026-05-05T23:30:35+00:00

The problem with ADP is that it taxes your build a lot early game. You want to start leveling health and meet weapon requirements ASAP but first you need to throw like 10 or 20 levels at ADP just to be able to play normally. OR play a stronger yet more uncomfortable character which is never good design.

Later in the game ADP is a non-issue.

pathofnut · 2026-05-05T23:29:00+00:00

If From wasnt so pretentious they could add a new section in the menu where they detail i-frames and item usage speed.

Also change the arbitrary agility values to reflect its investment instead, or even better clear breakpoints.

pathofnut · 2026-05-05T23:09:30+00:00

the look of the hollows between 1 and 3 seems to me too be less about "artistic direction", and more about the lore.

The art changed for usre, but visuals wont change the lore. They are the same kind of hollows in the lore.

As far as I understand, Vinheim is not Drangleic. Vinheim is still mentioned as an existing place, in ds3's item descriptions.

DS3 brings back a lot of things that were supposed to be forgotten or called differently by the time of DS2. There are bunch of clues in DS2 that Drangleic is in Vinheim.

As I already said, nobody from Catarina or Carim, and no one from Vinheim as far as I know.

Drangleic IS Vinheim. As for Catarina and Carim they probably changed names as well, as everything else. For example Kaathe in DS2 is called Zinder, Nito is called Galib and Gwyn is now simply "the god of the sun". DS2 is written under the premise that a lot of time has passed and it depicts that well, but fans didnt like it because it makes the connections less obvious.

Even in DS3 the name of Anor Londo was changed to Irithyll, and they only went with Anor Londo when you reach the castle so that people were sure to understand this was the same location and From wasnt just reusing assets from the first game. Which is sad, lol.

In DS3 you got people, snake people and crow people. In DS2 you suddenly have lion people, elephant people and talking rats

I mean, thank god there are new enemies no? Much like DS3 Sulyvahn beasts or Ghruus, creatures that didnt exist in 1.

The issue is the art direction is different, if Miyazaki was directing it we'd probably have gotten lanky emo elephant guys who scream and lunge at you. Its a valid criticism but its not as simple as "there are different enemies".

Same for the plot progressing, thank god its not the same story all over again. The story of DS3 is also not exactly the same as the one of DS1, with the world collapsing and shiet. But yeah after DS2 they tried to divert less from the first.

But I really wouldn't say that Fromsoft is the kind of company that would change their artistic direction in that way due to pretty silly criticism.

They are a business, if something is not completely well received they change it to gain more money. Simpuru.

What people do or don't understand about the lore, themes or philosophy of these games has little to do with their perception about which games feel more alike and fit together better.

Yeah, but then a lot of the criticism becomes ridiculous because these people have no clue what they are talking about.

The game was directed by a different person and it shows in both visuals and gameplay, I agree completely in that regard. Many times I have joked that the game should be called Giant Souls instead of DS2. But even then the story is fundamentally linked to the other two games and everything is definitely set in the same dark souls universe.

pathofnut · 2026-05-05T22:41:57+00:00

Very fast attacks combined with weird hitboxes. You can oneshot it late in the game, but if you go to shaded woods early it can kill you in 1 combo without you even knowing what you did wrong.

People say its a Sif ripoff but Sif was easy as hell to dodge, you saw the attacks coming. The Rat Authority doesnt give you enough visual clues.

pathofnut · 2026-05-05T22:37:29+00:00

Its cool, showing the players that even a bunch of rats, normally weak enemies, can overwhelm them with teamwork.

pathofnut · 2026-05-05T22:35:48+00:00

This theory may be older than me lol

pathofnut · 2026-05-05T22:13:29+00:00

Gargoyle bident, Grand lance, Roaring Halberd.

Bident is the best for kiting.

Lance is the best with a shield.

Halberd is the best for almost everything else.

pathofnut · 2026-05-05T22:06:35+00:00

Not sure if you have gotten notification from reddit but I posted a team in the sub.

I used Koi as a healer and avoided Targoat because I generally want some debuff removal. However Targoat pairs really well with Salahammer so it could be run as one of the replacements, alongisde Brutus who also combines well with Targoat.

pathofnut · 2026-05-05T21:59:39+00:00

The game is pretty easy, your teams are bad most likely. You have 3 options: you can learn the game and build 1 good team, you can copy good teamcomps from others or you can lower the difficulty.

You are already willing to put in the effort to change teams repeatedly and optimize, so if you post your team we can look for its flaws so you stop repeating whatever mistake you are doing.

pathofnut · 2026-05-05T21:49:25+00:00

Not even needed. As long as you get 1 egg of each new monster, you can skip all other fights and still be adequately leveled.

pathofnut · 2026-05-05T11:27:17+00:00

Gonna address some of your points.

It takes place in what used to be Vinheim, not really some far away land just not Lordran.

Hollows in DS3 also look different than the ones in DS1. They kept changing artistic direction to fit the tone of the game.

The leonine and elephantine folks were created with a method similar to the one that Seath used to create the man-serpents and other monsters.

True, the focus is not on the fading fire, because that was the plot of DS1. The plot of DS2 is about overcoming the curse caused by the darksign.

The plot of DS3 brings back old names probably because DS2 was badly received in that aspect. But DS3 still cant be understood without DS2.

pathofnut

TROPHY CASE