Drangleic Explorer Society: Compiling GB's DS2 Exploration

@redyoshi: I don't have that option at the bonfire menu.

never mind. Figured it out. Didn't notice the toggle option. I th ink that's dumb. Should just be a menu option.

So my torch ran out and now I can't relight it at a bonfire or sconce, are they one time use items or something?

@kerse: You can use one until the timer runs out. Not sure if it's a specific drop or random cause I got another one after my first torch's 5 minutes ran out and the timer went up.

@supamon: Hmm well I just hope that its that, I got to the next bonfire and can't relight it there either.

Sooooooo is there a way to compare armor/weapon values with your currently equipped stuff? I'm at this merchant and looking at items and its not showing me what my stats would do either way.

Also hot tip for anyone who hasn't found the upgrade item early on. The well near the back of the main town Majula or whatever hit the cinder block near the well which will fall down drag a corpse up that is carrying an estus flask shard.

So I found an odd ring

If you take the petrified something gift and levee it in the the nest in the opening area you can get the white ring, which makes you look like a summoned phantom, I also have gotten a power full whip out of this trade, it seams to be a bit random.

Not sure about the petrified item, but everything else is a random trade from them. I stupidly used the soft shinny rock thing as an item and missed out on my first chance to get something.

Man I tell ya I must just be horrible cause no real progress made tonight AT all. I really really need to get a shield that blocks 100% physical damage soon.

Wait what shiny rock thing are you talking about, also that makes me think I just screwed something up, well guess I'll find out in a few months

Has anyone found a monster that might drop torches? I can't find a vendor to sell them to me either. I got down to an area called Last Man's Wharf tonight and ran out. I need more torches to navigate this place!

A few things I found tonight:

An item called "Sublime Bone Dust" permanently makes your estus heal for more HP after you burn it in a bonfire. I dont think I found it in a chest, but dropped off of one of the big knights walking around Heide's Tower of Flame.

Immediately after you beat the Pursuer boss in the forest of Giants, drop down through a break in the floor right before you examine the nest that takes you to the next area. The Drangleic armor (good heavy armor) and the Drangleic Greatsword are one big loot drop under there.

@demoskinos: Interesting... you think they did that on purpose so you'd get used to dodging/rolling instead of blocking everything?

@demoskinos said:

There's a guy who sells a 90% shield with 50 stability in the town area where you level up thats pretty good. Its no 100% but its better than the like 70% one you find in the beginning, there's others that have 90% as well but have less stability.

I traded the petrified something at that nest and got a channeler's trident instead, definitely seems random?

So discovery! The enemies not respawning after awhile doesn't mean shit becuase apparently you can be summoned for bosses you have already defeated so yes...you can basically farm bosses assuming someone summons you.

@kerse: The item you get is random. I got the Channeler's Spear.

Make an investment for a Pharros' Lockstone, those are pretty nifty. It really helps in No-Man's Wharf, if you're running low on torches.

Any one know where to go after the first of four main bosses, The Lost Sinner. I finished Heide's tower of flame, and don't see any immediate area to go to know.

I was destroying those wooden chests and now I feel like an idiot. Apparently doing that destroys the item and results in rubbish. So I missed out on four or five items until I realized my mistake.

This may be a really dumb question but how to do you drop an item? I tried for a few minutes and give up.

It must be. I got a petrified dragon bone. Which looks like its an upgrade material of some sort.

Oh wow when I dropped the Petrified Something at the nest I got a Demon's Great Hammer that requires 50 strength.

@demoskinos: You also get souls for any enemies you kill while summoned.

BTW, does anyone know how to do that simultaneous double-attack while dual-wielding? Does it require a particular set of items?

My cleric's adventure through this game is going well. Helped a dude beat the dragon rider, helped another dude kill an invader, got invaded a few times and got into some pretty tight battles. I think I beat the hold dragon slayer on my first try only because someone recommended my message just at the right time. The online performance seems great so far.

@mikelemmer: That may be a power stance type move, in which case you would need 150% of the str & dex requirements of the weapon to do it.

Anyone know what's up with the gophers in Majula? Near the Cat's cabin there's these little rodent looking things. I can't hit them for shit with my dagger and actually died investigating them last night.

Just some random thoughts based on my first five or so hours.

The game has a much better difficulty curve. While it starts out slightly harder than most modern games, it doesn't have that total vertical spike that was the first two games.

Picking deprives seemed like a huge mistake at first, but I think in the long run it is the best option. The first couple of hours were really tough because all I had was some crappy enemy drops.

The healing changes to the estus flask are basically game changers. You really cherish them and the limited supply forces you to use them wisely.

First couple of bosses were challenging but really simple. Fun fights. Dragonrider, on the other hand, was a joke of a fight and I think I got hit maybe once.

I was fucking livid when I saw that the reused the Gargoyle boss fight. Hated doing it the Dark Souls, and hated the similar fight in Demon's Souls.

Adaptability is a very powerful stat that I overlooked for the first couple of hours. Regret doing that.

I want a Zweihander.

If you decide to descend the giant pit in Majula you should make sure you have plenty of flasks and Pharos lock stones. You need A LOT of lock stones.

I think they're just gophers. I left them alone, their gophering wasn't bothering me.

I jut bit the bullet and spent 1.3k souls on a nice longsword because everything I had was "Broken _____."

Speaking of broken, does anyone else thing weapons degrade really fast compared to Dark Souls 1?

Anyone know how to join the covenant at the Cathedral of Blue? I'm assuming it either has to be for the Blue Sentinels or Way of the Blue, but the knight keeps saying I don't have wait it takes to be a Knight of the Blue.

Also, that boss fight in the Cathedral with Ornstein blew my mind. Does this mean Dark Souls 2 takes place after Dark Souls 1? Because the Old Leo Ring mentions that it looks worn and faded, and he's called "Old Dragonslayer." It was also nice to beat on him without Fatty backing him up.

FYI, every time I assisted in killing the Dragonrider as a hollow, I received a smooth & silky stone, which those little birdies seem to love.

@paco: You have to assist someone in killing a boss.

@thelastgunslinger: They do, but durability refreshes whenever you reach a bonfire. Just be sure to visit a bonfire before they break and you'll be fine.

That explains why every time I fast travel back to the blacksmith the game tells me I have nothing to repair. Thanks!

So I jumped down into the hole in Majula and found the Grave of Saints and a little ways in I was summoned as a gray phantom? Then this guy comes out of nowhere and starts fighting me, but the weird thing is I was aggroing the enemies in his world but he wasn't? Has anyone else happened across this? I was human at the time so I wonder if it's a human only thing.

Edit: Nevermind I figured it out. It's the Rat King Covenant. Whenever someone enters the area, you can summon them to fight you and I assuming rats fight with you.

@iburningstar: Ah, that makes sense. Hopefully I can get summoned into someone else's game tonight. I tried yesterday but either they already beat the boss or I was failing to get summoned.

Speaking about failed summons, has anyone encountered an issue where they were getting summoned, but then got an error message saying they couldn't join? Because after that would happen, I couldn't re-use any of my soapstones unless I quit and reloaded my character. Also, no one else's sign would appear on the ground anymore, it appeared as if I had been caught off from multiplayer. This happened a lot when I was trying to get summoned for the Cathedral boss.

@reisz: @mb: Those gophers are my bane. What are they even doing there?! Either they're there for a secret purpose, or From Software's trolling us again.

@mb: Weird, the game didn't mention anything about a Power Stance. *sigh* It's irritating to think I could've missed an entire system like that; I just thought you needed the proper weapons equipped. I'll experiment a bit with the weapons I have and see what happens.

@iburningstar: Why is Adaptibility so important for you? I'm wondering because it sounds like a complete turnaround from how useless Resistance was in DS1.

Also, posted an in-character blog entry about my travels through the game thus far; Mysteries, Messages, and Mysterious Cartographers are pondered.

so has anyone figured out the rolling? i feel like im way to equipped for the speed of my roll.

It might be poise? I don't know for sure, I just switched from eh default Knight armor to the Elite Knight armor and I'm fat rolling now with 34 poise.

The Crow's nest in things Betwixt definitely acts differently than Sparkly and Snuggly in the first two games. I've got three different items trading those silky smooth stones. Lifegem, Soul of a lost undead and a Titanite chunk. Apparently you can trade the Petrified Something to them as well, I'm going to hang onto mine for now though.

It seems like the tiers of rolling may have been adjusted. I'm at 39.5% Equip load at the moment and rolling just fine. Agility is the stat that modifies it by the looks of things. the Tooltip is "Boosts ease of evasion and other actions"

@mikelemmer: It supposedly has some affect on your roll speed and distance and it also lowers the amount of time you are stunned after someone breaks your guard. Also speeds up how fast you parry, guard break, and drink flasks.

@reisz: You can trade the Petrified Something. I got Channeler's Staff for mine.

Those gold coins are pretty handy. Picked up a Heide Knight's Sword from that very first white knight after using one. Pretty powerful Lightning Sword for this early on.

I want a list of what you can get for that damn stone so far I have seen on my own and through this thread

Old whip, Twinkling titanite, titanite slab, white ring, channeler's staff, demon's great hammer, and petrified dragon bone

Also on a side note as is my nature I have started with each class and have found a personal preference towards warrior and explorer

Third note rolls seam to be 0-50 for light rolls 50-75 for mid and 75-100 for fat that is at least what it seams from my experimenting, theses are approximate values and I do not have enough equipment to get that granular details.

Seems aim w/spells is indeed out of the game, though you can aim spells pretty well in the binoculars in your off hand. Killed the fireball shooting monster doing that.

Anybody know where the sorcerer merchant guy you de-petrify in Lost Bastille goes to after you use a bonfire? I really don't know where he is.

I think his name is Straid.

Have any of the trapped chests been insta-kill/damage? Or can you avoid/dodge all of their traps if you're fast enough?

@mikelemmer: I dodges one that shot arrows on all directions without taking damage. Just back rolled real quick and took cover behind a pillar.

Well i walked into a fog gate and was greeted by Ornstein. I was promptly smashed. Also I found this ring that restores health. It talks about it being fragile. I'm assuming if you unequip it it will break?

I feel like I've been stuck in Sinner's Rise for hours. Those monsters that explode kill me so fast and they are almost impossible to avoid so I keep getting killed.

@demoskinos: I assume so. I haven't been brave enough to take it off yet.