Musing about Dark Souls 2 - part 3

Any of you struggling to defeat the Ancient Dragon? That bastard that can most likely one shot you even in NG+ with his Rain of Fire attack. Well, if you're on NG+, just use Gower's Ring of Protection, which will completely negate his Rain of Fire attack if you have your back towards him. When he flies up in the air, just run away from him, or more precisely, away from the center of the fire blast. If you're on your first playthrough though, dual-wield upgraded Gyrm Greatshield +5 (or more) with at least about 20 stamina, and you can survive his flame attack. You WILL take 2 hits that will drain your stamina completely, but you'll have ample time to regain it and maybe even land a few hits. Or just regain stamina and wait/bait him to use his Fire Breath attack.

I downed him with two AI phantoms (that died in under 30 seconds into the battle) using Gower's Ring of Protection in NG+ this evening. Before that, I wiped many, many times. As my means of attack, I used Soul Geyser and Crystal Soul Spear with items that restocked my spell uses. Last hit was delivered with my trusty Lightning Halberd +10 because I had just ran out of spells and he had one lick of HP left.

On another note, also cleared the whole game again tonight. I didn't go into NG++ yet, because I want to wrap things up before that. Like killing Darklurker, buying necessary upgrades and using boss souls. Only goal on my third playthrough for my main character is to get to Drangleic Castle to buy 3 spells that will allow me to get two trophies I am still missing: Master of Pyromancy and Master of Miracles. 

One NEEDS to grind Bell Keepers ranks up to 2 to get Hidden Weapon spell for the Master of Sorcery trophy. Lucky there's a way to do it offline if one is not up to online PvP. Check it out here.

Final Fantasies

Good thing about living in the U.S. is getting one's hands on games earlier than in Europe. Well, usually at least: Xenoblade Chronicles and Pandora's Tower needed some petitioning before they got those published here.

I've been playing FFX/FFX-2 HD Remaster lately. I've actually liked FFX-2 more, even though it is at times very, very girly and just exudes that "grrrrrl powah!" theme.But maybe because it is so upbeat, fast-paced and brimming with tons of extra stuff that I've come to like it more. Don't get me wrong, FFX has a lot of extra stuff, but all that becomes available after tens of hours of gameplay. After buying the game on Amazon and getting it delivered to my front door on launch day, I went -to quote Mika- "full potato" and bought the Bradygames official guide as well. That strikes me as a nice and easy way for them to capitalize on HD remastering an old game: just take the old guides, slap them together, update the year it was published and rake in the cash from idiots like me who have bought those same guides already in 2002 and 2004.

I've reassessed my disposition towards FF games after this HD remaster combo and my new top 5 is as follows:

1. Final Fantasy VII - The Best. Always.
2. Final Fantasy XII - I am still hoping for an HD remake. Love the battle system, well crafted world and mature story in this one. 
3. Final Fantasy X-2 - Girl power has it's own charm. And more of Rikku? In HD? Yes, please!
4. Final Fantasy X - Story goes full potato in it's last leg, but damned if it isn't a nice ride there. Turn-based battle system is great and lots to do in end-game.
5. Dissidia 012 Duodecim Final Fantasy - Despite it's ridiculous name, the game itself is brilliant. This one is most likely the best brawler I've ever played. I know it jumps out of the 1-15 line of FF games and RPG genre in general, but there are elements from FF-series, RPGs and fighting games mixed in so wonderfully, that I can't help but love it.

FFXIV:ARR and FFVI get honorable mentions.

Musing about Dark Souls 2 - part 2

I've killed every boss except the last one. Mainly because I don't want the game to end, but on the other hand there is New Game + waiting, which means new enemy placements and additional loot and enemies. During my first playthrough I even managed to kill Darklurker alone on my first try! Getting to it was harder than what the boss was, but then again, I had Soul Geyser spell with me (with 6 casts, but only needed 3). That awesome albeit a little game breaking spell can be easily farmed at Aldia's Keep, near the second bonfire: area boss is super easy even solo, so after killing it yet again just burn another Bonfire Ascetic and you can loot Soul Geyser again. Stupidly powerful spell, but requires 64 INT unless you use Simpleton's Spice.

I've still been engaging in jolly co-operation a lot. Makes some of those hard to kill bosses much easier except for one tough cookie: the Ancient Dragon. You must meet him, but you don't have to fight him unless you want to. And I wanted. And then I regretted that decision: that s.o.b. can kill any character with one hit, I kid you not. It is the first boss in DS2 I've had serious trouble with (had to respec from STR build to INT build and farm Soul Geyser because of him) and he feels like the first really, really cheap boss in the Souls series. Of course, he is an ancient dragon the size of a few apartment buildings, but still. Took me 28 tries, countless hapless phantoms, a respec and a shit-ton of souls for repairs for Ring of Soul Protection.