Dark Souls 2 PC - April 25, 2014

I've only put in 30 hours so far but haven't been invaded yet, not even in either belfy. I've co-op'd a lot and that's a blast but I'm wondering when the invaders will start.
 
1) copy your DS2 folder from the SSD to the steam folder on the hard drive. Uninstall, reinstall specifying your hard drive. it should find the files.
2) agreed, the buttons are an annoying oversight
3) you should allow online. pvp is far different from the other games. In 20 hrs I have yet to be invaded. You need online to see message hints and more importantly other player "deaths" which can help you avoid traps. Also coop is great learning tool and if you are successful you get lots of easy points and also turn human (regain HP loss)
 
some of the NPC Dark Spirits that invade (not other players) are a pain in the ass...the guy outside the Chariot boss was brutal...luckily you can cheese him from a distance with arrows
 
Last edited:
chrcoluk said:
Plus I have blocked the game in my firewall, I dont want any multiplayer pvp rubbish I am a single player campaign guy,
Click to expand...

Be extremely cautious if you play offline. You won't have access to others' bloodstains to see traps, and without the ability to aid others your HP loss from death will basically be permanent. Playing offline-only in DS2 is brutal due to the HP loss.
 
polonyc2 said:
how does end-game pvp work if you can't farm and there are limited amounts of inventory available at vendors?...what if I need to resupply or gain Effigy's?...if I cleared out enough enemies where they stopped respawning it seems like pvp would be severely gimped
Click to expand...

If you have cleared every single enemy in every single zone (not sure if ANYONE will ever do this), you can always burn an ascetic or help others beat bosses for vast amounts of souls. This would fund your purchasing of unlimited red eye or blue eyed orbs.
 
CEpeep said:
Be extremely cautious if you play offline. You won't have access to others' bloodstains to see traps, and without the ability to aid others your HP loss from death will basically be permanent. Playing offline-only in DS2 is brutal due to the HP loss.
Click to expand...

I think I need clarification on the HP loss you speak of. I've died at least a hundred times.
 
rsbennett00 said:
I think I need clarification on the HP loss you speak of. I've died at least a hundred times.
Click to expand...

Your HP will be capped at 80%~50% (goes less the more you die) unless you go back to the human form or find an item that will minimize the penalty.
 
Skeleton Lords boss looked like it might be crazy tough but it ended up being pretty basic once you understand the 'rules'...only boss I can't beat thus far is that crazy Chariot guy...need to level up more and get better gear so I can 1 shot those necromancers and skeletons
 
polonyc2 said:
Skeleton Lords boss looked like it might be crazy tough but it ended up being pretty basic once you understand the 'rules'...only boss I can't beat thus far is that crazy Chariot guy...need to level up more and get better gear so I can 1 shot those necromancers and skeletons
Click to expand...

I ran back and forth and let the chariot kill the skeletons. When they die you know the priest will be channeling his magic to bring them back so you have some free shots on him.
 
piscian18 said:
human effigy is getting pretty expensive :(
Click to expand...

If you don't want to pay for human effigies you can pump points into vigor and wear heavy armor so you don't get damaged as much that way you never really need human effigy or at least not very much or very often. As for my current experience with it around 30 hours and estimated around 60-70% complete here are my observations compared to Dark Souls (I'm about level 100 and I've been spending a lot of time helping other players)

1. Enemies and bosses are generally much harder and smarter then Dark Souls 1.

2. A lot of enemies play dead and ambush you if your not paying attention.

3. Enemies track you much quicker and are in general much harder to parry and backstab.

4. There is a lot of mobs in this game so it's not uncommon to be fighting 5 or more enemies at once.

5. Way more important stats that really shouldn't be overlooked if you want to excel at all areas of the game. Fighters need all stats except for Int and Faith and possibly either strength or dexterity depending on weapon choice unlike the first game where all you needed was Strength (or dex), Vitality and Endurance.

6. Upgrade materials are much rarer then the first game where it was pathetically easy to upgrade weapons to their max stats with only a few hours of game time.

7. Souls grinding is much harder to do in most areas because the areas are a lot more dangerous and there is no really cheap ways to kill difficult enemies.

8. Way more variety in bosses and less cheap bosses plus a large amount of different bosses to keep you on your toes if you neglect certain combat features. (Like the lost sinner, rat king and the 3 ruin sentinels)

9. Overall I'd estimate the game to be around 3-4 times larger then the first game with much trickier level design that's not as easy to just run through madly.

10. So far I'd give this game a 10/10 in game-play due to my opinion of everything they changed being much better then the first game. First game I'd rate 9/10 though simply due to the fact that it was better then anything else out at the time. Overall though I think Dark Souls is my favorite franchise now.
 
I really hope they patch the covenants cause most of them are very lackluster in their current state except Sunbros and Blood (only if doing arenas is your thing). I really hope they work out the interaction between Way of Blue, Blue Sentinels, and Blood. I get what they were going for but the execution failed hard. Blood needs to be able to invade easier and Blue Sentinels needs to be tweaked so it doesn't require human form in order to be summoned. The interaction between these three covenants could be so awesome if they actually fix it.

Ratbros and Bellbros can all go die in a fire. I never understood From's obsession in stacking the odds against the player being invaded. It should be the other way around - if you wanna invade other people then all the monsters in the world should perceive the invader as a foreign threat and turn on the invader. I never invade people in the Souls games cause I feel like a total douche for not only invading others when they're 99% of the time just trying to beat a PvE section but also the fact that all the mobs are on my side too. If only they would fix the Blue Sentinels so it was the Sunbros PvP equivalent.
 
infojunkie said:
Your HP will be capped at 80%~50% (goes less the more you die) unless you go back to the human form or find an item that will minimize the penalty.
Click to expand...

I understand that part but what's he mean by "and without the ability to aid others your HP loss from death will basically be permanent" ?
 
Kiznilian said:
I ran back and forth and let the chariot kill the skeletons. When they die you know the priest will be channeling his magic to bring them back so you have some free shots on him.
Click to expand...

I'm getting better with this boss...I can now make it to the horse battle somewhat regularly but it's hard to stay behind him and he keeps charging me and taking out a big chunk of my health...I think I need to upgrade my Estus to around 6 and have a stronger weapon and he'll go down

the Chariot boss somewhat reminds me of Capra Demon in that the dogs are the tough part and getting him 1v1 is easy
 
rsbennett00 said:
I understand that part but what's he mean by "and without the ability to aid others your HP loss from death will basically be permanent" ?
Click to expand...

You can undo the HP penalty an infinite number of times by successfully aiding others in boss battles. Undoing the penalties without this process requires the use of consumables, which are virtually all limited in this game. Aiding others in jolly cooperation is the only way to reverse your HP penalty that is available an unlimited number of times, as far as I am aware.
 
CEpeep said:
Aiding others in jolly cooperation is the only way to reverse your HP penalty that is available an unlimited number of times, as far as I am aware.
Click to expand...

in theory. If you are oversouled for an area you will be waiting a long time. for that reason coop feels much more rewarding, even when people help
 
Actually, there will be an area close to end game that will allow you to turn human for free, provided that you have zero human effigies remaining. It is a bit out of the way, however, so I've only used it once. After that first time, I was a lot more careful about effigy usage. :)

As for percentage of health, I have read that the floor for health can actually go below 50% if you are labeled a sinner. I believe you can go down to 5% health if this happens.
 
husker4life said:
Yes thats where i'm at and iv'e been invaded 2 on 1 multiple times freakin cowards can't fight me 1 on 1.
Click to expand...

That's the way the covenant works. As long as you are in the covenant and you are wearing the ring in a suitable area, the game will randomly summon you into that person's world to "protect" that area. Typically, a second spawn will come 30 seconds later. But there have been situations where I was only invaded by one of them.

I would say the Rat King covenant feels a bit more unfair than the Bell Keeper's to the "invader".

The people that I do label cowards are gankers who come in as a pair or trio, clear all enemies in the area, and wait for you to spawn.

I leveled my Blue Sentinels Covenant to 3, which required a combination of 500 invasions of sinners and/or wins in the arena and was ganked 3v1 probably 10% of the time. It can be really frustrating when this happens multiple times in a row to the same group.
 
Last edited:
Tzzird said:
That's the way the covenant works. As long as you are in the covenant and you are wearing the ring in a suitable area, the game will randomly summon that person into your world to "protect" that area. Typically, a second spawn will come 30 seconds later. But there have been situations where I was only invaded by one of them.

I would say the Rat King covenant feels a bit more unfair than the Bell Keeper's to the "invader".

The people that I do label cowards are gankers who come in as a pair or trio, clear all enemies in the area, and wait for you to spawn.

I leveled my Blue Sentinels Covenant to 3, which required a combination of 500 invasions of sinners and/or wins in the arena and was ganked 3v1 probably 10% of the time. It can be really frustrating when this happens multiple times in a row to the same group.
Click to expand...

That's bullshit 2 on 1 sometimes 3 on 1 gimme a break, if they want to invade me fine but it should be a 1 on 1 fight.
 
husker4life said:
That's bullshit 2 on 1 sometimes 3 on 1 gimme a break, if they want to invade me fine but it should be a 1 on 1 fight.
Click to expand...

Like I said, at least it's a staggered 2v1, and you won't spawn into them. That covenant won't put you into a 3 on 1 situation. If there is a third, it's most likely a blue or red invader. These guys can actually fight the grays if they wish.

Best way to avoid the melee is to avoid all enemies and rush to the ladder on the top floor to pull the switch. That way you can get through to the boss fog whenever you'd like. Either that, or summon a white phantom to help you.

By the way, this area is COMPLETELY optional.
 
probably already explained in this thread but can somebody tell me how the pvp invasion matching works?...is it the same as DS1?...within 15% above or below of your current soul level?...or some other parameter?
 
polonyc2 said:
probably already explained in this thread but can somebody tell me how the pvp invasion matching works?...is it the same as DS1?...within 15% above or below of your current soul level?...or some other parameter?
Click to expand...

It's based off soul memory. Other than that, I'm not sure if anyone knows the exact percentage cut-offs yet.

I'm guessing it is different percentages based off the type of invasion. As a Blue Sentinel at soul level 258, I have invaded someone in the mid-150's. Perhaps the window is a bit tighter when it comes to the brotherhood of blood and other covenant invasions.
 
Tzzird said:
It's based off soul memory. Other than that, I'm not sure if anyone knows the exact percentage cut-offs yet.

I'm guessing it is different percentages based off the type of invasion. As a Blue Sentinel at soul level 258, I have invaded someone in the mid-150's. Perhaps the window is a bit tighter when it comes to the brotherhood of blood and other covenant invasions.
Click to expand...

soul memory?...meaning your current soul level?

level 258 wow...so there's no artificial cutoff for good pvp like with DS1...SL 125 was considered the number to not go over for best summoning/invading...how do you know what SL the person you invaded is?
 
polonyc2 said:
soul memory?...meaning your current soul level?

level 258 wow...so there's no artificial cutoff for good pvp like with DS1...SL 125 was considered the number to not go over for best summoning/invading...how do you know what SL the person you invaded is?
Click to expand...

Soul Memory is the total souls your character has touched, including ones you have lost due to death or have not spent leveling up. Soul Memory is used to determine summon matchups rather than Soul Level in DS2.
 
polonyc2 said:
soul memory?...meaning your current soul level?

level 258 wow...so there's no artificial cutoff for good pvp like with DS1...SL 125 was considered the number to not go over for best summoning/invading...how do you know what SL the person you invaded is?
Click to expand...

CEPeep answered your first question.

As for a proper soul level that most people use for pvp... there is actually zero point to this in DS2 because of the idea of soul memory. Even if you bank all your souls at level 150 but continue to play, you will be matched with people well above your level.

At the end of NG+++ I was at about level 270. I could have been a bit higher than this, but each of the cracked blue orbs for invasions are 10,000. 500 of these are needed at a minimum if you are to achieve rank 3 in Blue Sentinels purely on invasions. I wasn't always successful, so I probably spent well over 5 million on souls for these orbs.

My overall soul memory is currently around 40 million.

You don't know their SL unless you ask them. :)
 
Last edited:
CEpeep said:
Soul Memory is the total souls your character has touched, including ones you have lost due to death or have not spent leveling up. Soul Memory is used to determine summon matchups rather than Soul Level in DS2.
Click to expand...

that seems like a terrible way to match people...it should be based on Soul Level...don't know why they changed this for

Tzzird said:
As for a proper soul level that most people use for pvp... there is actually zero point to this in DS2 because of the idea of soul memory. Even if you bank all your souls at level 150 but continue to play, you will be matched with people well above your level
Click to expand...

maybe I'll appreciate this new mechanics once I start doing a lot of invasions but right now it doesn't make a whole lot of sense...seems totally imbalanced
 
polonyc2 said:
that seems like a terrible way to match people...it should be based on Soul Level...don't know why they changed this for



maybe I'll appreciate this new mechanics once I start doing a lot of invasions but right now it doesn't make a whole lot of sense...seems totally imbalanced
Click to expand...

The biggest complaint you will hear about this game from the console crowd is soul memory. (assuming that CTD issues will be the number one issue for PCs)
 
polonyc2 said:
that seems like a terrible way to match people...it should be based on Soul Level...don't know why they changed this for
maybe I'll appreciate this new mechanics once I start doing a lot of invasions but right now it doesn't make a whole lot of sense...seems totally imbalanced
Click to expand...

Because if its based on Soul Level its easy to abuse. Maybe you weren't aware but there were whole guides on youtube on building the perfect trolling builds for DS1, where you stay at SL30 max to be able to beat up on noobs with your +15 everything gear and 1000 PvP fights under your belt.

Soul Memory makes a lot more sense than soul level - except I suppose for people that play recklessly. Its not perfect, but I haven't seen a better suggestion from any of the people complaining (I dont just mean here but Reddit, Neogaf, etc)
 
Last edited:
polonyc2 said:
that seems like a terrible way to match people...it should be based on Soul Level...don't know why they changed this for



maybe I'll appreciate this new mechanics once I start doing a lot of invasions but right now it doesn't make a whole lot of sense...seems totally imbalanced
Click to expand...
I agree. It sounds like in DS2, there is an actually possibility of having to re-roll your character if you've lost too many souls over your guy's lifespan.
DPI said:
Because if its based on Soul Level its easy to abuse. Maybe you weren't aware but there were whole guides on youtube on building the perfect trolling builds for DS1, where you stay at SoulLevel30 max to be able to beat up on noobs with your +15 everything gear.

Soul Memory makes a lot more sense than soul level. Its not perfect, but I haven't seen a better suggestion from any of the people complaining (I dont just mean here but Reddit, Neogaf, etc)
Click to expand...

I would recommend the same thing I always wanted blizzard to implement in WoW arenas. In Dark Souls, there should be some combined rating that takes into consideration not only your soul level, but also your combined item level too. Someone who has maxed out a weapon should never fight someone who hasn't even found the blacksmith. But in DS1 and from the sounds of it, also DS2--this is a completely likely scenario.
 
DPI said:
Because if its based on Soul Level its easy to abuse. Maybe you weren't aware but there were whole guides on youtube on building the perfect trolling builds for DS1, where you stay at SoulLevel30 max to be able to beat up on noobs with your +15 everything gear.

Soul Memory makes a lot more sense than soul level. Its not perfect, but I haven't seen a better suggestion from any of the people complaining (I dont just mean here but Reddit, Neogaf, etc)
Click to expand...

I don't see how soul memory matches players up who are similar in 'level' or skill ...the other way wasn't perfect either but I don't see this as being better
 
chockomonkey said:
I would recommend the same thing I always wanted blizzard to implement in WoW arenas. In Dark Souls, there should be some combined rating that takes into consideration not only your soul level, but also your combined item level too. Someone who has maxed out a weapon should never fight someone who hasn't even found the blacksmith. But in DS1 and from the sounds of it, also DS2--this is a completely likely scenario.
Click to expand...

Agreed. The reality is we don't actually know 100% how the matchmaking works, its mostly still speculation at this point.

The problem is how do you really measure "skill" -- what IS skill? There are so many variables. If matchmaking is really just based on soul memory alone and not other factors, then maybe the developer believed that the soul memory method would still be a better gauge for how much true experience you had in the game - or at least killing shit, and is therefore less easy to game the system because you can't intentionally hold back on leveling up to abuse weaker, less experienced players.
 
Last edited:
BTW, speaking of Soul Memory, Some good info at the link below, along with some test data.
Now they need to do some further testing, but this is what was gathered up to now. Apparently there is a "cut off" at around 12 million souls and a few other things, but look at the posts here:
http://illusorywall.tumblr.com/

Heres the part about 12 million
Once you surpass 12 million Soul Memory, you can pair with anyone above that and vice versa (white sign soapstone and red sign soapstone confirmed).

To figure this out, I had heard from a couple sources that there was a speculated top tier where everyone within it can be matched. With a testing partner, we guessed 20 million and put another character over 100 million and went from there. Being able to see each others’ signs, my partner created new characters using the Mega Mule with a lower Soul Memory, while I continued to increase mine.

We found that even when I was over 400 million Soul Memory, his 12 million character could match up, both ways, with mine. We tested 11,950,000 SM as well, and that didn’t work.
Click to expand...

I dont want to quite say SL is ignored, but thats what it kinda looks like... further testing is needed....

What About Invasions?
I haven’t done enough testing yet to determine anything conclusive, but early data also suggests that invasions (at least Cracked Red Eye Orb invasions) also do not have a level range and only use some kind of Soul Memory grouping.

In regular NG, I invaded a level 72 player with a level 145 character. That’s a pretty huge level disparity (and I’m certain the level he told me was correct based on the amount of souls dropped), but we both had very close Soul Memory.
Click to expand...

Hmm.... Interesting.
 
Yep, they need to match people based on soul level and item level which would ensure an even match stats-wise. A ladder system that breaks people into tiers based on win-percentage so that your W/L should be close to .500 would be sweet although that may mean long wait times in between.
 
So is something like DSCfix no longer necessary in DS2? Have y'all been playing with friends and such pretty easily?

Also, have there been any changes on how co-op works in general? I mean, does it still section off parts of the game depending on where you summoned someone? Are you automatically sent home when you're done killing the area boss? Are gestures still the only way to communicate?
 
chockomonkey said:
Also, have there been any changes on how co-op works in general? I mean, does it still section off parts of the game depending on where you summoned someone? Are you automatically sent home when you're done killing the area boss? Are gestures still the only way to communicate?
Click to expand...

Yeah sort of.
The White Soapstone is split into 2, the White Soapstone, and a small white soapstone. The small one allows you to be summoned as a "Shade", a grey phantom for a short period of time. The large one allows you to be summoned as a normal "Phantom", but you are also on a time clock and could be sent back to your world before fighting the boss of the area summoned, if you take too long.

I don't know how I feel about that yet. Got sent back from a summon right when we got to a boss fight last night, and I was not a shade. On the other hand, it seems like Shades are good for sections of levels(since they go away quickly), and Phantoms are for the boss fights.

I can't believe how many people are online. I am summoned in seconds, EVERY, SINGLE, TIME. Good riddance GFWL indeed.
 
LeviathanZERO said:
Yeah sort of.
The White Soapstone is split into 2, the White Soapstone, and a small white soapstone. The small one allows you to be summoned as a "Shade", a grey phantom for a short period of time. The large one allows you to be summoned as a normal "Phantom", but you are also on a time clock and could be sent back to your world before fighting the boss of the area summoned, if you take too long.

I don't know how I feel about that yet. Got sent back from a summon right when we got to a boss fight last night, and I was not a shade. On the other hand, it seems like Shades are good for sections of levels(since they go away quickly), and Phantoms are for the boss fights.

I can't believe how many people are online. I am summoned in seconds, EVERY, SINGLE, TIME. Good riddance GFWL indeed.
Click to expand...
Well fuck. That sounds like a step backwards in terms of being able to play this game in co-op with a friend. They must really not want you doing that :(
 
I think it's dumb that you can blatantly cheat in this game with hex editors and give yourself 4823904830948290348234 souls and yet still go and join and play with other normal non cheating players.

Saw my bro do it, he's gotten very far in the game, got frustrated, decided to cheat himself a lot of souls. The game is still hard but I think it's much more manageable when you are 10 levels above the normal curve of where you're at in the game.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top