Zombieheadbutt

Wow, you're right. I did forget to post my platform. I'm on a 360. I also visit the Dark Souls sub-reddit quite often but it seems like most of the post you see their are media or declarations rather than request so I didn't think it would land well but I'll give it a shot.

Just S ranked it myself today. It was rewarding because I know 99% of all of my friends quit the game before even finishing their first play though because they claimed it was too hard. It's my opinion that Dark Souls will always be a sort of cult classic even if Dark Souls 2 does better commercially so I felt really good about S ranking it.

I've been having the same issue. I actually fought him on a first playthrough with a new character and though I could dance around him all day I couldn't find a good way to cut his tail off. I'm now on NG++ and trying to get a phantom to help me out. If you need any help with him and want a co-op buddy hit me up with a message and we'll set up a time.

Would anyone be interested in co-op'ing the bosses in the DLC sometime this weekend? I've had no luck finding random summon signs for the DLC for any of the bosses thus far.

I'm soul level 156 and I'm running a Dex/Int built with max stamina and 1690 HP. I'm pretty sure I can down Artorias solo but Kalameet and Manus might be a bit difficult on NG++. I still haven't managed to get the tail weapon from Kalameet. It's literally the only weapon in the game I don't have so if you still need it also let's get this done.

Also, I'm a sunbro so hopefully that'll help get us in the same game.

Like a lot of people I've seen post so far I immediately thought of Dark Souls when the trailer began. The oppressive atmosphere, the knights armor, etc. I actually sent a text to a friend of mine about 5 secs in asking, "Another Souls game?!" and then 10 seconds after that followed it with a, "Yup".

I really just want more of the same.

I love everything about Borderlands and the universe they've created. I really want to get invested into the game considering I've got, literally, ten friend online at this very moment playing the game and I know they'll be playing it into June of next year when the final DLC hits. For the life of me though, I can't seem to wrap my head around how to make good weapons choices. Having just come off of playing another loot based game, Darksiders II, I thought I'd have a handle on being able to choose weapons appropriate to my class which is a Gunzerker.

So, my question. Has anyone established a useful metric for determining how useful a gun is? I just need something to go on until I figure out what I want to do with my character. I like to think I'm not an idiot but rather just insanely indecisive in regards to loot based games.

Example, if your using a SMG you should always prioritize fire rate, then damage, then reload time, etc. Something like that. A Gunzerker duel wields and can't zoom while in Gunzerker mode so two fast firing from the hit guns would probably be best. Two assault rifles or SMG? I feel like keeping a shotgun in the off hand is to situational.

So, has anyone whose like me determined a good method to retain sanity in a loot game?

@phrosnite said:

When I play a game I usually finish most or some of the side quests but my main goal is to see the main story. On the second playthrough I go and find everything.

A person who hates loot? WOW!

Some games don't feel like loot is necessary. I know I'm beating a dead horse here but I don't think anyone would say to put loot in Zelda. They like Zelda for what it is which is a exploration/puzzle games. Anything else just gets in the way. If you enjoy it though I tip my hat.

@Tennmuerti:

Once you go through the Tomb of the Deposed King you can open a shortcut at the end right before the lift to the boss. Likewise almost every dungeon on the game creates several shrotcuts as you keep going through them.

You're right, most of the dungeons in DSII have shortcuts leading to the final boss. What bothers me is having to fight any enemies that respawn once you return. I don't remember where the shortcuts drops you but hopefully there aren't many mobs you have to fight through. It's a minor annoyance. Probably not something I should let affect me.

There are enemies in Skyrim that are quite static in their stats and difficulty and don't level with you as much.

I remember there being static enemies in Skyrim but I don't recall that ever being an issue. I can only remember ever having one difficult fight in Skyrim and, ironically, it was the very first Dragon Priest I encountered. Skyrim is vastly more open than DSII is and for that reason I don't believe your character level ever impacted the game. In DSII, it being more linear, your character level and stats have a larger impact on progression because you're bottle necked. Enemies you run into out in the open give so little xp that grinding isn't really an option if you want to power level which is something I always do if I'm playing a rpg-esqe game. The largest source of xp in the game is from quest and most of them involve mobs that you'll have to come back to later or some insane collectables you can't actually finish until the end of the game. There were some nice side quest at the beginning of the game in Forge Lands but they seem to have completely disappeared in the the Realm of the Dead.

Where you see a flaw because parts of Darksiders 2 are more difficult thern others, I see a feature, something to be admired, that a game is not a complete easy slog from start to finish but offers curveballs from time to time, something to get your teeth into now and again (optional at that).

See, this is where I disagree. The original Darksiders was, admittedly, easy. It was all about exploration which is a feature it shares with the game it so blatantly ripped off: Zelda. By adding this new loot and stat system they've essential taken away from the joy of exploration. The combination of these systems ruin exploration. The enemies in the original game were there to set the atmosphere and make War feel like a badass. Once you understood how an enemy functions you need only apply the skill and reflexes necessary to kill it. In DSII, there are enemies that will one shot you simply because your gear isn't good enough or you're not high enough level. I don't explore anymore I just run along the main quest line until I know I'm so powerful I can back track and annihilate what I passed up earlier. I'm trying to imagine how much I would hate God of War if it had a similar system

And Darksiders 2 is miles away compared to Souls series game in terms of difficulty.

Funny you should mention the Souls games. I loved Dark Souls! Dark Souls, to me anyway, isn't about exploration. It's about winning. It about beating the system. I knew that going in. I was able to grind my character into a finely hone killing machine by understanding the system and essentially cheating it and I think the developers understood you'd try that very thing. I hate going to new areas in Dark Souls. No horror game has ever came so close to make me afraid to go around the next corner. Dark Souls isn't about puzzles or exploration. Before you ask yes, I don't mix my green peas and mashed potatoes together. They're eaten separately, just the way I like my exploration and puzzle games.

Not to mention it's systems have been reworked a dozen times over the years and was nowhere near as transparent for a long time.

It's been awhile since I've played WoW but the last time I played I could discern almost any facet of how my character works by mousing over a state or looking in the right window. Theorycrafting existed but it was more about which stats where better rather than how the impacted the character. In this case, the possessed weapons were a complete enigma to me and the fact that they were so rare cause me to not want to mess with them until I was sure how they worked. i don't mean how the function but how much of a % boost a green item or purple item will give even if they have the some % crit chance on it. Will one cause it to boost higher when it levels? Thats the kind of thing that drives me mad. I also mentioned that the game took awhile to reach that level of transparency. If they're going to ape the system then why not go all the way?

I understand your general sentiment. But now you are trying to level quite a few what I feel like are unfair arguments towards the game (with the possible exception to a bit obscure posessed weapon mechanics i'll give you that). Not that the game is without it's faults either.

My argument is revolving around the fact that the game isn't playing to it's strengths. The mechanics they've added to the game interfere with the formula they perfected in the first game which is to say they made a better Zelda game. I think I also need to replay the original and then come back to DSII. I feel like I might be looking at it with rose tinted glasses but I do remember having much more fun with the original without having to worry about gear or level.

@JoeyRavn said:

Well, just embrace your "OCD" (which is not OCD, but whatever). There's no right or wrong way to play a game, and certainly you don't have to justify yourself to anyone. If you spend two hours comparing weapons to see which one is better because you feel you need to do it, go for it. Stop trying to impose on yourself a way of playing the game that doesn't feel natural for you.

Also...

@Zombieheadbutt said:

I'm not sure but I think it's due to the loot system. I detest it to the core of my being. I hated in in WoW and every game since then to try incorporating the idea.

Loot-heavy games have been around for a lot longer than WoW. Just saying.

I would have been better for me to say OCD tendencies. I've obviously not be diagnosed with OCD or I might have to run 3 circles around every room I enter in the game. I wasn't trying to justify any one particular way of playing the game but rather I was pointing out why the new loot mechanics of the game were irritating me. I played WoW for around 3 years so I didn't loath the system then but I don't like it in my Zelda game.

I know it wasn't the first game to use loot but it probably the one to popularize it besides Diablo.

@Tennmuerti said:

@Zombieheadbutt:

Everything you are saying is technically true.

The difference however for someone like myself is that I personally hugely enjoy pimping out my character in awesome gear. So the loot aspect makers the game much better not worse.

I enjoy tweaking my character to a degree. I've put in over 280 hours into Skyrim but the difference here is that the character development system is accommodated by the mechanics of the game. The enemies in Skyrim level with your character and I never had to vacant an area but I was getting my ass handed to me by math. Like I said, Darksiders II is a good game it just has it's flaw and for me those flaws are sort of pet peevish. :)

I was not geared at all killing Gorewood on the first try, and Deposed King is a lvl 20 side boss (read stronger then regular boss, because he is optional) yet i know people are killing him as low as lvl 13-15.

I felt that if I took the time to learn Argul's patterns I could have beaten him but it would have taken an hour of whittling him down and just one hit would kill me so there isn't any room for mistakes. Some people really enjoy the challenge...I say they're crazy.

If you want to feel better about chests think of them as potential for epic and posessed weapons, if not that then as food for your posesed weapons to make them even stronger.

Another thing that annoyed me was how vague the game is on how possessed weapons work. It's core concept is very basic but it took hours of internet scouring to find anything resembling a comprehensive idea of how they level. Part of the beauty of games like WoW is how transparent the character development system is. You know exactly how your stats affect your character. WoW didn't start that way of course but since WoW is at least 5 years old now it shouldn't have been that hard to make this mechanic a little for clear.

But honestly the regular game on normal defficulty setting should be a piece of cake. The real challange are either Abyssal difficulty and/or the Crucible.

The main quest in the game isn't that difficult, I agree. Again, I'm pointing out my OCD tendencies here and I know I'm letting it get the better of me. I'm thinking of just trying to run through the main game and then going through it again to get everything.