This has turned into some great knowledge. Probably deserves a sticky.
Dark Souls II
Game » consists of 12 releases. Released Mar 11, 2014
Blood, souls, and tears are continually spent as players traverse the land of Drangleic in FromSoftware's third entry in the Souls series.
100+ tips, tricks, and tidbits for Dark Souls 2!
47. The Ring of Life Protection can be used to keep your humanity and souls intact upon death, and repairs for a paltry 3000 souls.
Save those Effigys people.
48. The undead merchant in the Forest of Fallen Giants will give you a Covetous Silver Serpent ring +1, if you spend around 10,000 souls in her shop and talk to her afterwards.
49. If you see an ally player using a Heal miracle, run up right next to them to gain the beneficial effects of their cast. Works for status effect removing spells as well.
50. The two trolls near the water in Things Betwixt can easily be killed by luring them to the short-cut tree bridge nearby. Just have them follow you and lure them to the tree bridge. They won't go over it, but they will try to follow you if you keep luring them. At some point they will lose balance and fall to their death into the depths below.
51. If you think you are blocking, you probably aren't. Always double check.
52. Spoiler here, but really helpful. If you see a mill, burn it.
53. You can go into dual wield mode even if you have a shield in your left hand. Holding down triangle/Y will go into this mode. And if you have a shield equipped you can do some pretty crazy bashing attacks. How much damage is based on your stats and the stats of the shield. While not efficient, its pretty cool.
54. The poison statues in The Black Gulch (and I assume The Gutter as well?) will only reset if you die or leave the area. So you can clear them out as you go, return to the bonfire and rest if you need too, and they will not be repaired. But monsters will return as usual so this could be useful for farming them.
55. The nasty spider zombies in Brightstone seem to automatically land a hit when they die if you are close enough when you kill them. It takes a decent chunk of health so be very cautious. But you can do a sort of medium ranged melee attack to avoid this. Something like a spear or greatsword thrust at maximum hit range.
56. To get to the items on the lava parts in the Iron Keep you need tons of fire resistance stuff. The items in a chest are much harder. I used all six of these tricks combined and I still wasn't able to get the item from the chest. It opened and I saw the item and I died.
- Fire resist ring
- Fire resistant armor set (Alonne Knight set from the Iron Keep works well)
- Flash Sweat pyromancy spell
- HP + rings etc
- Pop a strong life gem before running onto the lava I suppose
- And most importantly is the pots of water. If you look in certain spots of the Keep there are big vase looking things and they are filled with water. You'll want to find some of these near the item you are going for, roll through them to soak yourself in water, and then sprint to your target as fast as possible. There are also two spots I believe that you can use Pharos stones to make a healing well of water. Apparently these can be used to soak in as well.I have no idea how long the water effect lasts.
@daiphyer: Yes
56. To get to the items on the lava parts in the Iron Keep you need tons of fire resistance stuff. The items in a chest are much harder. I used all six of these tricks combined and I still wasn't able to get the item from the chest. It opened and I saw the item and I died.
- Fire resist ring
- Fire resistant armor set (Alonne Knight set from the Iron Keep works well)
- Flash Sweat pyromancy spell
- HP + rings etc
- Pop a strong life gem before running onto the lava I suppose
- And most importantly is the pots of water. If you look in certain spots of the Keep there are big vase looking things and they are filled with water. You'll want to find some of these near the item you are going for, roll through them to soak yourself in water, and then sprint to your target as fast as possible. There are also two spots I believe that you can use Pharos stones to make a healing well of water. Apparently these can be used to soak in as well.I have no idea how long the water effect lasts.
You can try using Small Orange Burrs as well.
Pretty vital information that I found in the manual, of all places:
59: Merely equipping a shield slows down your stamina restoration. That includes having it on your back. So if you're a 2-hand type of guy, there's a benefit to not having a shield on your back. Interesting change from Dark Souls, where everyone had a grass crest shield on the back forever.
60. vitality is maybe the best stat in the game, armor do matter now with changes of roll penalty, heavy armor can make the diffrence between a fatal hit and a scracth (I am not kidding it make the bosses MUCH easier)
61. large club is very fast in this game...for str characters to know ;)
62. Two of the three giants that have turned into trees (which you can examine) in Forest of Fallen Giants have a use by the end of the game. Try and remember them.
63. Save any Giant Souls (not the main boss souls) you get. There are 5 in total. Don't use them like I did on my first playthrough.
64. If you use up your torch time, the zombies who wield torches drop them. There's one in Huntsman copse right after the 2nd bonfire.
65. I don't consider this a spoiler since this is good info to have in the back of your mind while playing the game, but I'm spoiler tagging this anyway. These are some of the thresholds for getting merchants to sell better stock and gift items:
- Maughlin the Armorer has thresholds for upping his stock. They are at 1000 souls, then 16000 souls, then talk to him when you have 0 souls to get a special set of armor that reduces your equip load.
- Melentia will gift the silver serpent ring +1 after you spend 10000 souls. She will also change her stock when specific NPCs are killed.
- Licia will gift her entire set of armor and chime if your faith is at 30.
- Gavlan will gift a Great Gyrm Axe after spending 15000 souls.
- Carhillion will gift a Northern Ritual Band +1 if your INT is at 30.
- Felkin will gift Hexers armor and Sunset Staff if INT and FTH are both 20+.
- Chloanne will gift Twinkling Titanite after spending 20000 souls.
- Gilligan will gift a Melu Scimitar after you buy his most expensive ladder.
- Magerold will gift the gold serpent ring after spending 10000 souls.
66. The binoculars are found to the left side of the left most path as you leave Majula from the bonfire location (you can also see them as you are coming down the path from the tutorial zone towards Majula). There's a little ridge you need to jump onto to get them. I played through the game without ever finding these and regret it because the game looks great through the binoculars!
47. The Ring of Life Protection can be used to keep your humanity and souls intact upon death, and repairs for a paltry 3000 souls.
Save those Effigys people.
48. The undead merchant in the Forest of Fallen Giants will give you a Covetous Silver Serpent ring +1, if you spend around 10,000 souls in her shop and talk to her afterwards.
Good lord, when I read that the ring broke, I thought it meant that it broke. Please excuse me while I go put it on.
66. When you get to the Shaded Forest. Do not fight the phantoms. Killing one spawns two more. I mean if you want to farm souls its the perfect place. But if you just want to get through it, run by them. I made the mistake of standing in one area for 15 minutes. And I killed like 20 of them. They just kept coming.
67. There are multiple items that increase the amount of souls that drop, and they stack. In particular, in the Iron Keep, the Jester Set sold by a merchant there gives bonuses to item discovery and soul drop, among other things. If you can make it through an area or boss with a marginally worse piece of armor or only 3 useful rings, load up on soul increase items, it makes a huge difference. Also, if you time it right you can slap on a soul increase ring right after you land the last blow on a boss but before you're granted souls. Quickly adds up to tens of thousands of extra souls.
68. Unlike Dark Souls 1, weapon reinforcement (+X based on titanite shards), is independent of weapon modifiers (Fire, Magic, etc.), and a weapon's modifier can be changed without messing with the reinforcement level, assuming you have the proper stones to do so. No reason not to reinforce the hell out of a weapon you like, even if you're thinking of adding an effect to it down the road. And no need to upgrade to +5 or +10 to add a certain effect.
I'm finding the adaptability stat to be SUPER useful, raises agility, which makes the fast roll faster and smoother. It also makes using items and drinking estes faster. I've raised adp to 20-22 so far, my agility is about 96 and its made combat so much better, vgr,vit and end are all 12 str is 25 and dex is 20. Granted I'm still early game, but I've beat the Dragonrider, Old Dragon Slayer, Flexile Boss from the Warf and the 3 skeletons all on the first try. I'm not that great at the souls games.. anyway raise vit enough so you can fast rol with the equipment you like and don't be afraid to pump points into ADP, it makes movement in general better.
Also the Blacksmith's hammer from the Bastille, after lighting the torch stand it's in the chest he was sitting on. That hammer is pretty great, fairly fast, mine is +1 and does 250 with 25 str and 20 dex, I've used it on the last 3 or 4 bosses, it's pretty good against armor. I'm switching between that and the Drangleic sword which has higher dmg, but slower light attack (pretty fast heavy att though) and not as good vs armor.
The cat in majula sells a ring that decreases fall damage, which will let you traverse the well there. Kind of curious to know if brad and vinny figured this out (as they were curious about that well in the first ds2 video).
Also, weird tip. I find circling to an enemies left (your right) to be the preferred method when taking on an enemy. In DS1 I used to circle to the left (enemies right), but I find myself getting hit more often when doing that.
Also, anyone have a tip for the turtle dudes in forest of fallen giants? It seems like it's impossible to dodge their attacks when you go in for a hit. I can kill them, but I have to heal after each one.
Not sure if anyone is looking at this thread anymore (or if anyone knows about this), but it seems that lighting a bonfire makes it so you return to it upon death, you dont have to rest at it anymore. This means you can light a bonfire and continue on without resetting the enemies you've killed.
46.play offline and then you get invaded by NPCs in some areas
Yeah you will become VERY well acquainted with Royal Sorcerer (aka bad guy) Navlaan by the end of the game if you play offline.... I have fought him at least 8 times, I kid you not. You also fight some weird Rogue called the Unknown Usurper a few times, Lucatiel's Brother (and he is pretty aggressive/mean), some crazy Dragon Knight in the Aerie, and a few other mostly random guys/girls.
that said...
47: After you kill the Smelter Demon light the bonfire upstairs and rest. When you return downstairs and enter the Smelter's room there will be a large black smog in the center. When you go in the Pursuer will show up popping out of the smog for a round 2 (assuming you already beat him). If you take him down again he will drop a Ring of Blades +1.
46.play offline and then you get invaded by NPCs in some areas
Yeah you will become VERY well acquainted with Royal Sorcerer (aka bad guy) Navlaan by the end of the game if you play offline.... I have fought him at least 8 times, I kid you not. You also fight some weird Rogue called the Unknown Usurper a few times, Lucatiel's Brother (and he is pretty aggressive/mean), some crazy Dragon Knight in the Aerie, and a few other mostly random guys/girls.
The Nameless Usurper is actually Licia of Lindelt, the miracle chick you first meet after beating the dragonrider. And then who you pay (or kill to get the key) to move the path below the Majual bonfire.
There are actually quite a few of them. If you are human in the right location. 10 total different NPC invaders. With 15 different encounters. And this does not include the two bell covenant dark phantoms that invade. Those will spawn every time you enter that area. So actually 12 NPC invaders and 17 unique encounters.
They are: Rhoy the explorer in the grave of saints. Melinda the butcher in the gutter. Vorgel the sinner in lost bastille. something roenna in hunstmans copse. Bowman guthrey in door of pharos. Peculiar kindular in shrine of amana. Mirrah in aldias keep. Dragonfang in dragon shrine.
I think there are so many so people who play offline can still max level the way of the blue. As you need to defeat 10 dark spirits to do that.
46.play offline and then you get invaded by NPCs in some areas
Yeah you will become VERY well acquainted with Royal Sorcerer (aka bad guy) Navlaan by the end of the game if you play offline.... I have fought him at least 8 times, I kid you not. You also fight some weird Rogue called the Unknown Usurper a few times, Lucatiel's Brother (and he is pretty aggressive/mean), some crazy Dragon Knight in the Aerie, and a few other mostly random guys/girls.
The Nameless Usurper is actually Licia of Lindelt, the miracle chick you first meet after beating the dragonrider. And then who you pay (or kill to get the key) to move the path below the Majual bonfire.
That's interesting. I will admit the lighting was always terrible when i fought them (rain storm or dark ass cave) so they always looked male to me. Funny she never uses miracles when she invades.
Not really surprising though, they are pretty easy to see through. In other news being in the rat covenant protects you from getting invaded there because that's the only one you listed I never actually fought.
70. I wish someone had told me this sooner. For two handed halberd users, the backstep + R1 move is the same as the regular R2 move, but with an extra hit and uses less stamina.
71. Don't want to fight the Ancient Dragon but want a free Ancient Dragon Soul? Go to the place where you fought the Duke's Dear and there'll be a large rock thing that you can examine and go into a dream and collect a free Ancient Dragon soul.
72. Having trouble with Dragonrider? You shouldn't be, but if you are, the third Old Knight from the starting bonfire activates a lever when he dies, pulling this lever will make the outer floor go up giving you a much larger arena and making the fight easier.
46.play offline and then you get invaded by NPCs in some areas
Yeah you will become VERY well acquainted with Royal Sorcerer (aka bad guy) Navlaan by the end of the game if you play offline.... I have fought him at least 8 times, I kid you not.
That's not the only way you get to know him.
(sorry if it's already been mentioned)
73. A bit spoilery, but for the love of god, do not pull the switch on the first floor of Aldia's Keep. Go to the other side of the room and speak to the NPC. Especially if you're an intelligence build.
75. In order to enter the dual wielding power stance you need 150% of the required stats for the weapon.
e.g. Claymore is 20 STR and 13 Dex, therefore you need 30 STR and 16 DEX to use them in tandam.
76. When dual wielding using L1 and L2 for light and heavy dual wield attacks, R1 and R2 will be the same as usual.
75. In order to enter the dual wielding power stance you need 150% of the required stats for the weapon.
e.g. Claymore is 20 STR and 13 Dex, therefore you need 30 STR and 16 DEX to use them in tandam.
76. When dual wielding using L1 and L2 for light and heavy dual wield attacks, R1 and R2 will be the same as usual.
I think your maths for the dex part is slightly off...
You should also poitn out that the dual wield moveset is dependant on your right handed weapon, so sometimes having the same weapons but switching hands will give you a different moveset.
79. The smooth and silky stones are not the only things the crows will accept for trade. They will also accept petrified something and prism stones. Though expect the items you get for prism stones to be of worse quality than what you could get for the smooth and silky stones.
80. If you get too wet your character will be put in a drenched status. While drenched you take increased damage from lightning and greatly reduced damage from fire.
any tips for The Rotten?
If you're still having trouble with him you can cut off his sword arm. I only did it when he was almost dead but it should help a lot if you can do it earlier.
83. If you decide to grind around Dragon Shrine bring hexes\dark pine resin\dark weapons. Mobs in this area have extremely low Dark resistance.
84. There is a side quest in Aldia's Keep can only be started by talking to Navlaan while Hollow. There are alternative solutions to all his requests.
85. Really maybe for just a few, but whatver... Chancellor in the Drangleic Castle will sell covenant rewards on NG++
Just to add to 81 - the first bonfire of the Forest doesn't become much harder when using a bonfire ascetic but does respawn the chest with 5 human effigies at the start (the one down the plank in the cave). Really useful when retrying the abyssial challenges.
12. Wooden chests will break after 3 hits, destroying all the items inside and giving you rubbish. My strategy is to hit chests once to check for mimics (I don't know if they're in the game yet,) then be ready to roll backwards while opening the chest if there's a trap.
oh yes. There are Mimics.
Keep doing what you're doing, I stopped hitting them after a while and FOOLISHLY opened a chest all willy nilly... I was horrified.
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