Dark Souls 2: SotFS (or therefore, "Baa-baa Black Sheep" and other musings thread)

[Sniper Team 4]

If I remember right, your reward for freeing the kidnapped Melfanito is that Hollow ring, right? The one that lets you appear human regardless? That's really just for players that are sick of looking like a zombie all the time because they keep dying. Cosmetic stuff only. But if you go back and talk to her sisters, they will both give you a reward for freeing her.

You are now on your way to meet the King. Beware the light.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

If I remember right, your reward for freeing the kidnapped Melfanito is that Hollow ring, right? The one that lets you appear human regardless? That's really just for players that are sick of looking like a zombie all the time because they keep dying. Cosmetic stuff only. But if you go back and talk to her sisters, they will both give you a reward for freeing her.

You are now on your way to meet the King. Beware the light.

Hmm this sounds dangerous, but highly intriguing. As long as it doesn't screw up my Lucatiel/Benhart questlines I'd still like to complete before NG+ (but I think I'm moving on to finish Bloodborne and maybe even start DS3 before starting the next round here).

I got the Ring of the Dead after mercy killing the embedded dude on the cage in the Drangleic tower. I don't know who Melfanito is...maybe she's the chic praying at that big fire alter? I tried kneeling there but nothing happened. Guessing the ring activates something since you mentioned being able to turn human there.

Also, I like the Drangleic sword. Can't wait to upgrade it some more with the A Dex rating it has.

 

[Comic Sans]

The fire you can pray at by the Milfanito is a failsafe in case you run out of human effigies. If you're hollow and have no effigies in your inventory you can pray here and become human.

As for where you are and quest saving, soon you will have the symbol of the king that will open the big doors you've been seeing. You need to progress further to continue with Benhart but going through the big door by Shaded Woods is where Lucatiel's quest ends so make sure you're ready. I'm not sure what the trigger is honestly so if you haven't already it might be too late. But that's what replays are for

 

[Sniper Team 4]

The Melfanito are the girls that you hear singing in Shrine of Amana. Go into all the huts in that area and you'll find them. You can only talk to two of them though, as the third one disappears/dies when you find her. And yes, one of them is the girl praying at the shrine fire, which Comic Sans just explained.

You'll figure out what it means about the light when you get to the next area.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

The latest developments in the land of Drangleic:

*Velstadt defeated!

*Lucatiel's quest completed!!

I should be in more favorable position to get Benhart's next, since he still has three fights I haven't ascetic'd. Then if I want to go for trophies I'd think the blasted covenant leveling ones would be the most challening remaining. In any case, it's still a fun playthrough. All the comments I remember reading about bosses being underwhelming and too often "armored soldier" based are so far largely unfounded to me. The game seems to have above average boss variety consistent with the previous games.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Should you choose to go for the trophies, the only covenant one to worry about is The Bell Keeper one. You must get to level 2 in that one in order to get the spell. The other ones--Blue Sentinels and Brotherhood of Blood--can be bought from the ghost chancellor on your THIRD playthrough. Because getting five hundred consecutive wins for BOTH of those covenants can suck and die.
Also, are you playing online? If you are, the Sunlight Bros should be no problem to get. If you're not, you might be in for some rough farming.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Should you choose to go for the trophies, the only covenant one to worry about is The Bell Keeper one. You must get to level 2 in that one in order to get the spell. The other ones--Blue Sentinels and Brotherhood of Blood--can be bought from the ghost chancellor on your THIRD playthrough. Because getting five hundred consecutive wins for BOTH of those covenants can suck and die.
Also, are you playing online? If you are, the Sunlight Bros should be no problem to get. If you're not, you might be in for some rough farming.

Was there really a requirement of 500 consecutive wins for those? All to get spells or something? Kinda Absolutely ridiculous.

Yup, playing online for this one. In Demon's it screwed up world tendency and in DS1 there were too many glitchers and spammers by the time I played it to bother with online. Haven't had any real problems in this regard here though.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Indeed there is. In order to get Bountiful Sunlight--a spell I REALLY wanted because I like playing the helpful support character--and Chaos Fireball, you need to reach rank three in Blue and Brotherhood.
In order to get to rank three, you must win 500 matches--be they invasions, or duels. This is insane enough, but the extra kicker is that every time you LOSE, you lose a point. So let's say you win ten duels, and then lose nine more. You now only have one point toward the next rank.

Needless to say, I have only ever heard of one person getting those two spells the real way, and I'm not entirely sure they were telling the truth. As such, I'm sure the developers realized how stupid that is and that's why you can buy those spells on your third playthrough. Sadly the same is not true for Hidden Weapon or Sunlight Spear, but at least those can be managed.

My friend is going through Dark Souls for the first time, and my other friend and I are playing with him. And you're not wrong about glitchers and spammers. We've been invaded in areas by people wearing armor and moving way too fast for how early in the game we are, but we just roll with it and shrug it off. It helps that we can chat over the PS4 while playing the PS3. I think the reason you're not having nearly as much trouble with II is because the game is pretty much a ghost town in comparison, and since it was never as loved to begin with, most people don't bother.

 

[gsilver]

In order to get to rank three, you must win 500 matches--be they invasions, or duels. This is insane enough, but the extra kicker is that every time you LOSE, you lose a point. So let's say you win ten duels, and then lose nine more. You now only have one point toward the next rank.

That sounds like them just *begging* for people to try to hack for it, given how unfeasible the requirements are to get it legitimately...

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Indeed there is. In order to get Bountiful Sunlight--a spell I REALLY wanted because I like playing the helpful support character--and Chaos Fireball, you need to reach rank three in Blue and Brotherhood.
In order to get to rank three, you must win 500 matches--be they invasions, or duels. This is insane enough, but the extra kicker is that every time you LOSE, you lose a point. So let's say you win ten duels, and then lose nine more. You now only have one point toward the next rank.

Needless to say, I have only ever heard of one person getting those two spells the real way, and I'm not entirely sure they were telling the truth. As such, I'm sure the developers realized how stupid that is and that's why you can buy those spells on your third playthrough. Sadly the same is not true for Hidden Weapon or Sunlight Spear, but at least those can be managed.

My friend is going through Dark Souls for the first time, and my other friend and I are playing with him. And you're not wrong about glitchers and spammers. We've been invaded in areas by people wearing armor and moving way too fast for how early in the game we are, but we just roll with it and shrug it off. It helps that we can chat over the PS4 while playing the PS3. I think the reason you're not having nearly as much trouble with II is because the game is pretty much a ghost town in comparison, and since it was never as loved to begin with, most people don't bother.

lol yeah I think I'm cool with just beating the game/dlc for now at least. Same with 3, but I'd still like to 100% Bloodborne after this so I'd have a Platinum in at least one of each of the SoulsBorne entries. I'd just consider 2/3 redundancies.

Has your friend tried Demon's Souls yet? Amazingly enough I never had a problem with glitchers/spammers there. It was only the world tendency thing that made it more of a hassle than any pvp stuff. When I played it was probably the most well-mannered online experience I've had in a game.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Ah, Bloodborne. Have fun in those Chalice Dungeons, especially the deeper ones, because you're going to have to go there in order to face one of the trophy bosses. Ugh...

He has not tried Demon's Souls, nor have I. However, I did buy it for the first time two weeks ago. We're going to wait until we're finished with Dark Souls, and then we're going to all go into Demon's Souls blind.

 

[Comic Sans]

So as a quick note, you are almost to the end game. Soon you will get an item called the Ashen Mist Heart. Once you get it, go back to Vendrick and you will be able to interact with something in his room, which is a good way to give lore and introduces the DLC. From there head to the teleporting fountains you have seen throughout the game, you should have the keys to open the doors. The DLC are uniformly great.

If you don't have the DLC keys (I am pretty sure you do, but in case), one is behind the forbidden key door in the Majula hole, one is in the area with the giant salamanders in Forest of Giants, and one was in a chest on the main path in Drangleic castle, no way you missed it.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

So as a quick note, you are almost to the end game. Soon you will get an item called the Ashen Mist Heart. Once you get it, go back to Vendrick and you will be able to interact with something in his room, which is a good way to give lore and introduces the DLC. From there head to the teleporting fountains you have seen throughout the game, you should have the keys to open the doors. The DLC are uniformly great.

If you don't have the DLC keys (I am pretty sure you do, but in case), one is behind the forbidden key door in the Majula hole, one is in the area with the giant salamanders in Forest of Giants, and one was in a chest on the main path in Drangleic castle, no way you missed it.

Whoa...for serious? Just last page someone (Sniper I think) said I was barely half way...unless the dlc conglomerate is that massive?

Anyways, I'm now 3 bonfires deep into a frigidly cold stronghold with a bunch of ice beasts. The level so far is par for the course difficulty-wise, unless you count the invisible "pet" I ran into earlier. I'm guessing the eye of something item I got in the flaming tower will reveal that one, or possibly more.

I also beat the Dragon Guardian (only two tries and no summon...try harder, dragon?) and the Emarald said some deep stuff, so I figured I'd save this for last.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

I think I've finally met my match with that massive tiger (which is fitting I suppose, seeing as it's World Cat Day [http://www.bing.com]. Even with an online summon the best I could do was dying a hair too early, watching my phantom partner deliver the coup de grace as the light faded out. Now with only the game's standard phantoms the closest I've gotten was down to about 20% of his (her?) health bar left. It's just too quick with the pounces, swipes and whatnot for me to keep stamina rolling, running etc. and also too smart for playing my "Just lemme drink some juice!" plea. I ran out of resins and fire/poison bolts so retreated.

On to the Sunken dlc, which is more interesting design-wise with the switches, but the poison... blegh. I made it to the Dragon's Sanctum, but was overwhelmed by it in conjunction with two different mobs in some small room. If I wasn't tired I might've persisted longer, but seeing as I haven't yet gotten the "key" for the Iron King door yet, I'll do some more scavenging in the mainland.

 

[Dalisclock]

So as a quick note, you are almost to the end game. Soon you will get an item called the Ashen Mist Heart. Once you get it, go back to Vendrick and you will be able to interact with something in his room, which is a good way to give lore and introduces the DLC. From there head to the teleporting fountains you have seen throughout the game, you should have the keys to open the doors. The DLC are uniformly great.

If you don't have the DLC keys (I am pretty sure you do, but in case), one is behind the forbidden key door in the Majula hole, one is in the area with the giant salamanders in Forest of Giants, and one was in a chest on the main path in Drangleic castle, no way you missed it.

Whoa...for serious? Just last page someone (Sniper I think) said I was barely half way...unless the dlc conglomerate is that massive?

Anyways, I'm now 3 bonfires deep into a frigidly cold stronghold with a bunch of ice beasts. The level so far is par for the course difficulty-wise, unless you count the invisible "pet" I ran into earlier. I'm guessing the eye of something item I got in the flaming tower will reveal that one, or possibly more.

I also beat the Dragon Guardian (only two tries and no summon...try harder, dragon?) and the Emarald said some deep stuff, so I figured I'd save this for last.

Yeah, the dragon guardian is kind of a joke. First try, no summon. Figured I'd have to try a couple times. And that's the last boss you have to fight for quite a while.

Quasi Spoiler alert, but since you are getting near the end, you can technically go down to the throne of want at any point now. The final boss won't trigger until you have something from one of the memories. If you go down there now, you'll fight a boss. If you wait until later, after you have the object, you might have to fight up to 3 bosses in a row with no break in between(depending on if the 3rd boss has been triggered to show up by fulfilling an extra condition).

Fun fact for the Ivory King DLC(and indeed, all of them): There are side areas that are much harder and apparently meant for co-op. The one for the Ivory King dlc(at the bottom of the valley, you have to ride a coffin down the hill to get there) ends with two invisible Tigers, after a long trek through a blizzard.

Apparently those side areas are purely for the challenge because I've heard you don't get anything particularly special for finishing them. Other then bragging rights, of course.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Do those extra bosses have anything to do with the giants or is that something completely separate? I don't think I have the Ashen Mist Heart yet either but I'll have to double check. Guessing it has something to do with the sparkling tree by the Unbeknownst bonfire but so far "Alas, nothing happened".

I figured I'd at least try getting Benhart's questions done, but I'll probably replenish my effigy stock for the dlc and Dark Chasm areas.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

What do you mean by "have anything to do with the Giants" exactly? Are you referring to the stone golems that are in the Throne of Want room? Because if you are, they have nothing to do with the boss fights. The extra boss fight in the game is kind of hard to trigger if you didn't do some things right, but no need to worry. You get nothing from the extra boss--not even a Soul. It only unlocks the second ending, which you can get in your second playthrough if you want.

Alva, the King's Pet is a beast, but I think you should be able to take her. Just only go for one hit at a time and then roll away.
Now fighting TWO of them at the same? Yeah...I've never done that, and I've never come across any other player that has--at least, not fast enough that I'm still in the fight.

The Key to the Old Iron King's DLC area is probably the hardest of the three to get, as it requires some running around. I won't spoil it completely, but needless to say, you need to get a key from the Iron King's sinking castle, and then you need to find the door that that key opens, in an area you haven't been back to for a long time, I bet. Hint: both areas involve fire, although the first area you may have turned the fire off by now.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

What do you mean by "have anything to do with the Giants" exactly? Are you referring to the stone golems that are in the Throne of Want room? Because if you are, they have nothing to do with the boss fights. The extra boss fight in the game is kind of hard to trigger if you didn't do some things right, but no need to worry. You get nothing from the extra boss--not even a Soul. It only unlocks the second ending, which you can get in your second playthrough if you want.

Alva, the King's Pet is a beast, but I think you should be able to take her. Just only go for one hit at a time and then roll away.
Now fighting TWO of them at the same? Yeah...I've never done that, and I've never come across any other player that has--at least, not fast enough that I'm still in the fight.

The Key to the Old Iron King's DLC area is probably the hardest of the three to get, as it requires some running around. I won't spoil it completely, but needless to say, you need to get a key from the Iron King's sinking castle, and then you need to find the door that that key opens, in an area you haven't been back to for a long time, I bet. Hint: both areas involve fire, although the first area you may have turned the fire off by now.

Yeah the three or four giants that leave special souls and I think have something to do with fighting the big guy dragging his sword in circles (Vendrick?)

Sounds like I should double back to Iron Keep since I never inspected what else shutting off that fire might have revealed...

 

[Dalisclock]

What do you mean by "have anything to do with the Giants" exactly? Are you referring to the stone golems that are in the Throne of Want room? Because if you are, they have nothing to do with the boss fights. The extra boss fight in the game is kind of hard to trigger if you didn't do some things right, but no need to worry. You get nothing from the extra boss--not even a Soul. It only unlocks the second ending, which you can get in your second playthrough if you want.

Alva, the King's Pet is a beast, but I think you should be able to take her. Just only go for one hit at a time and then roll away.
Now fighting TWO of them at the same? Yeah...I've never done that, and I've never come across any other player that has--at least, not fast enough that I'm still in the fight.

The Key to the Old Iron King's DLC area is probably the hardest of the three to get, as it requires some running around. I won't spoil it completely, but needless to say, you need to get a key from the Iron King's sinking castle, and then you need to find the door that that key opens, in an area you haven't been back to for a long time, I bet. Hint: both areas involve fire, although the first area you may have turned the fire off by now.

Yeah the three or four giants that leave special souls and I think have something to do with fighting the big guy dragging his sword in circles (Vendrick?)

Sounds like I should double back to Iron Keep since I never inspected what else shutting off that fire might have revealed...

Since you're there, The giant souls only matter if/when you fight Vendrick. Basically, his defense is inversely based off how many giant souls you have currently in your inventory. Without any giant souls, his defenses are 32x what they would be if you have all 5. Essentially, you'll do scratch damage and the fight will take a very, very long time. And Vendrick can easily two shot you from halfway across the room.

Trick is, you need to beat a harder boss to get all 5, but you can beat him well enough with 4.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Those golden shrouded knights around Dragon Shrine are fierce as hell. I also checked out Iron Keep again but not sure how the hell I'll get those chests that require 30yd dashes brought molten rock. I got the first one that you have to island hop to, but the ones further in must need something special. One is near a water pool from the Pharros contraption, but the other underneath the raised platforms where you have to jump a few molten streams with an archer at the end might be tough.

I also only need one more Benhart summon to complete his quest. Hoping if I do so early he'll still be available for the last couple fights.