So, I'm now in NG+ (and the multiplayer is still dead as can be but maybe it's my odd morning sessions). And I summoned luca once and made the noobest mistake in the game, i.e. ran past all the s'ploding zombies thinking I could open the gate before they end me....

Anyhoo, made my way back there and her summon sign is gone. Yes I am human, was wearing the ring. Maybe because I start from the servants quarters to farm some souls on the way? Do I need to stop at the rise bonfire to see her sign. What's going on.

And once I get her back, any pointers to keeping her alive would be nice (and I don't feel like rolling a new char and doing it on ng). I helped I guy beat her and luca died near the end. I don't think I can pull off the taunt ring in this fight... What gives.

This happened to me as well. It seems like a glitch. I was also human, but no sign. Going back to the bonfire and resting there worked for me; her sign showed up again.

As far as keeping her alive, the Redeye Ring really is the best way to ensure her safety. Otherwise, you'll just have to dish out a lot of damage in a short amount of time. She is a lot more survivable after the patch though.

This happened to me before the Mirror Knight fight for NPC summon there. I quit to the menu and loaded back in to fix it. Seems like the game forgets to "Refresh Signs" or something because I definitely don't see summon signs when human at times and need to reload back in to be flooded by them.

That said the Mirror Knight battle in NG+ was a bitch when trying to keep that NPC alive. Kudos for having a fight with human summons though.

I quit the game at the bottom of the elevator where her summon sign should be, when I reloaded it was there. Do you need this fight for her quest line? You only need her to survive three boss fights to complete her quest, I summoned her for Smelter, the Rotten and the Flexile Sentry. You could even use bonfire ascetics and do one boss fight three times and complete the quest that way.

Thanks all. I'll go back to the bonfire, and quit reload if she still ain't there.

Hmm, ascetics... good point, since I really don't plan to run any deeper in ng+'s anyways. Out of her boss battles rotten seems by far the easiest for the ascetic strategy, right? Does he have help in ng+? Just thinking of smelter hitting harder than before makes me sweat profusely! Speaking of, I read somewhere that there is pharros contraption and a puddle to roll in that stacks with flash sweat before the smelter battle???

Mirror knight is probably my favorite boss battle in the game but I still think ascetics on the congregation or whatever its called should be easier to keep Bernard alive in? But you do need him in the giant lord fight to get the trophy, right?

The rotten does not have extra help in ng+, if I recall correctly. That would be the fight I would repeat for the Lucatiel quest.

There is a pool of healing water you can unlock in Iron keep. You have to jump to the place were the knight shooting arrows at you stands (where the dull ember is).

I don't think Benhart needs to survive the Giant Lord fight, he died in my last playthrough but I got his equipment. He survived the congregation, the mirror knight, the Throne Watcher/Defender and Nashandra.

@haniball: Yeah you can activate the Pharros contraption in Iron Keep. It's on top of the building from where the first Alonne Captain shoots at you with a greatbow. Yes, being soaked in water does stack with Flash Sweat (this is also the strategy often used to walk across the hot stones to the treasure) and Small Orange Burr. But I don't think you're soaked for long. Maybe 30 seconds? Maybe 60? Not that much longer than that anyway.

The best way to defeat Smelter is still by dodging his attacks I think. You can also glitch Lucatiel to not enter the Smelter arena so you can kill him solo, which is obviously easier to keep her alive. But I'm unsure how to do it exactly. It happened twice to me though.

Thanks again guys. I love it when there is real actual helpful information exchange on the internet. The occasions are few and far between :)

I shall clear the level and put my sign down a few times in front of the sinner fog. Can I wear the ring as a phantom? I'll try to pull it off. But sinner and the pyros on me, at co-op strength ... I just might be out of my league there.

And whats the other npc storyline I'm missing? something about the memories too. Not sure I ever met the guy :)

@haniball: The Redeye Ring? Yeah, you can wear it as a Phantom. I wear it often when doing summon sessions to keep the host alive.

The other NPC you're thinking about is probably Benhart of Jugo. Completing his storyline gives you his armor set and Bluemoon Greatsword, I think it's called. He is located just before Shaded Woods (before you unpetrify Rosabeth) first. Then he'll show up in Drangleic Castle next to the Central bonfire. Then just after The Pursuer's arena in Forest of the Fallen Giants and lastly in Memory of Orro, which is the resting giant he was sitting in front of.

You can summon him for Mangus & Congregation (sign is in a tent in Royal Army Campsite), Looking Glass Knight (just before fog door), Giant Lord (in front of you when you spawn into the memory) and Throne Watcher/Defender (next to fog door).

@haniball: The other NPC in the memories would be Captain Drummond. Make sure you enter the Memory of Vammar first as soon as you get the heart. There you can speak to him, learn a gesture. After that you can summon him for the giant lord fight if you don't want to summon Benhart. When the lord is defeated you can return to Drummond to get some gear and an achievement/trophy, if you care for them.

@zevvion: Thanks, I know Bernart, the comic relief guy :) Watching him swing his mighty sword to no avail is priceless.

Thanks, thats the one. I hope he isnt as braindead as Bernart and can actually survive the battle?

But overall this all sounds too easy to be true. Where|s the pure bladestone on the way to the plat in this game? For the record I don't plat games. like ever. But this one just seems very much within reach...

@haniball: I do distinctly remember Lucatiel having more left over life after the Smelter fight than after the Rotten fight. Both bosses hit hard but I think Smelter was purposefully nerfed even more in reference to NPC's because when I fought him on NG+ with Lucatiel his AoE energy "pulse" attack which normally devastated her pre-patch was now just barely grazing her lifebar.

Rotten is a better choice if only for the fact that it has a faster run up to the boss, whereas I've actually died a dozen or so times when going to Smelter because of my own impatience at having to deal with all those archers and knights.

@haniball: There is no equivalent to pure bladestone :-). I still try from time to time to get a pure bladestone, but even after hundreds of hours total in Demon's Souls it never dropped for me. The Platinum for DS1 was pretty doable (I did it on PC and on 360), I think DS2 is a bit harder because of the miracles/sorceries you get only from leveling up covenants.

@humanity: Do you summon the other NPC for the Rotten as well? Schmidt is a pushover and you have to hope that boss does not focus on him, but his arrows hit pretty hard. Since the nerf it should be possible to fight Flexile Sentry three times, his 'assistants' are pretty easy to manage now.

Make sure your world tendency is pure black! I found the run to the skellie behind the hidden wall the easiest. I buffed with black turp to get the fight over with quickly.

Speaking of trophies, I am pretty sure I had all the NPCs in Majula but never unlocked the trophy. For some reason Cale had moved back to his cave though and when I went back to talk him into coming back I had killed miracle gal in the meantime. Do they all need to be there at the same time?

@haniball: I even went so far and made a luck based build (with a Blueblood Sword and the Large Sword of Searching in my off-hand) and farmed the black skeleton in 4-2 over and over. No luck ;-) .

I think the NPCs (9 in total) all have to be in Majula at the same time. I never had Cale move back to the cave, that sounds like a glitch. McDuff glitched for me in my most recent playthrough, he is supposed to give you an item after you spend a certain number of souls but that never happened for me. I hope he will on ng+

@roland_d11 said:

Careful, it has been a while but I faintly remember that the sword of searching increases base drops not quality of drops. Pure black does. But with the multiplication trick there should be plenty of folks out there with pure stones they can give you :)

@haniball: For Benhart, the congregation is a joke if you're having trouble with the others. Just ascetic that, it never gets hard.

For Lucatiel, since the NPCs were buffed her trophy is super easy now. I kept her alive through Smelter twice and Lost Sinner on NG++. If your good at the fights it should be no problem.

@roland_d11 I believe you specifically need to purchase his ladders, I'm not 100% certain on that though. Also, you only need to level the bell keepers to rank 2(30 kills) and the sun keepers to rank 3(30 medals). The spells that take like 500 kills each can be purchased from the ghost dude in drangleic castle on NG++.

Just an update, her sign was back when I went back down. Summoned her and a sun brother and we kept her alive on the first try!

Same for sentry. Most trouble I had there was trying to remember where to ring the bell to summon the ship :)

So while I am putting in little time I feel like I am making good progress :)

And, oh, the trophy for re-populating majula popped up after the sentry battle.