Wife plays: Dark Souls 2

(This piece is a draft I found lying around from June 2014)

I've been trying to get my wife into Souls -series ever since Demons' Souls. Maybe I've been too pushy at times and that might've put her off or maybe it was the fact that for the past 5 years she was really concentrating on her PhD thesis?

Whatever the case, imagine my surprise when one evening I come back downstairs to find her actually rolling DS2 character. Before I went to put our daughter to bed I jokingly said "well, maybe you could play Dark Souls, dear" after she complained that she didn't know what to do for entertainment that evening.

She has seen me play DS2 (and those that came before it), but mostly only when I've died and she's lifted head or peeked i to the room to see what all that cursing was about. As such, she knows what the game is about. Never the less, she decided to roll deprived: a class that in effect is not a class but more of a blank slate. She did spend good deal of time customizing her character in other aspects though and seemed very pleased. I stepped into living room just after opening cinematics and she hadn't yet gotten a chance to actually play.

"What the heck man! I haven't even been able to play yet and I am 15 minutes in!"

Don't you worry: that'll be the most exposition you will ever get in the game. Rest you have to scrape together yourself. I love that aspect of Souls -series: nothing is handed to you and you piece it together yourself. Another great thing is the atmosphere. But actuaöly both are usually love it or leave it type of deals. We'll see how she likes it.

I tried to protest against using deprived, but she was adamant about it. Fair enough...

After leaving the firekeepers hut, she went through all tutorial fog gates without too much of a problem. Jumping tutorial was her first (and thus far only) death. Pretty damn well for a deprived that has only a dagger! Although she left all 3 cyclops well alone (and thus missed 3k souls and Stone Ring). I have vowed that I would not interfere with her playing unless she asks for help. Let her find out everything herself. That's the beauty of a Souls game.

One thing must be mentioned though: she though well until first bonfire in Forest of Fallen Giants that she needs to hold R3 to lock on. Her camera suddenly wasn't jumping all over the place after I released that tidbit of information.

But so far: very nice! 

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.

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.

Musing about Dark Souls 2 - part 1

Tried to tackle Looking Glass Knight offline with help from an NPC phantom about half dozen times: nope.jpg. I was sceptical how a boss fight would go if it summoned red phantoms (other players) to help it out against the player (me) in addition to the boss that is pretty tough as it is if I went online. Well, turns out it works beautifully and one really should enlist the help of others in this particular fight (and many others for that matter). Summoned two sunbros to help me out with the boss fight and we beat it to a pulp in no time flat. I don't know who you were guys/gals, but sunbros are awesome and thank you! Jolly cooperation! \o/