Dark Souls 2 [360, PS3, PC] Review

[briareos_kerensky]

Tand probably not anyone at all unless and until FROM repair the PSN netcode that they just bust with v. 1.02 patch. Which means...you're probably on your own vs. Pursuer!

Summonings and invasions work, I helped a guy this afternoon, I got helped by an other, and got invaded once again. This time it was a fight, but I was able to win by one or two HPs. Yay.

yes, and try to use the rings that raises your loot and luck!

Spent a good time farming those soldiers, but no shield. Palestone, blue orbs, greatswords, armour pieces, but no shields. However I bought a greatshield from the guy near the massive pit in Majura, and he was also so kind to stock the Elite Knight armour set, which i couldn't resist.
I also defeated the

->Open Spoiler<-

Old Dragonslayer

, I hope his armour will be for sale.

[Tobal]

After a tough section of final areas I finished the game,

->Open Spoiler<-

im really not sure how melee only will do the final boss... but I found it easy just running away from the curses, hurling lightning bolts till I won(with 2 spell recharges) and it as normal the end bosses they suck compared to the rest of the game.

Enjoyed this more than Dark Souls mainly due to less bull**** and so far balanced invasions which sometime lead to some epic hand shaking dodges in a desperate bid to stay alive.

Gives the option to carry on or go to NG+1(at anytime) incase you want to go looking for stuff you missed and it also splits you off into NG+ only invasion/summoning people. I think i'm going start a new character who invades!

[DANGEROUS-3]

After a tough section of final areas I finished the game,

Nice.

Yesterday I pulled two sessions that amounted to 8 hours.
I'm loving co-op play, hit a wall when I reached the Ruin Sentinels : Alessia, Ricce & Yahim...
Any tips?

[chopemon]

I could only do it with a couple of guys helping me out. You need extra bodies in there to draw aggro. When you enter stay up top and get the first one down. After that try to separate them. If they both concentrate on one player that player will have a nightmare time.

[briareos_kerensky]

Nice.

Yesterday I pulled two sessions that amounted to 8 hours.
I'm loving co-op play, hit a wall when I reached the Ruin Sentinels : Alessia, Ricce & Yahim...
Any tips?

Kinda easy to deal with them. Angle the camera toward left before you enter the room to know what Yamin (the first sentinel, IIRC) is doing: roll/dodge/block accordingly. All their attacks havea huge build time, and even on the small platform, you should be able to dance around him and kill him before the other two move.
With a melee build, a stable shield works wonders, and you'll be able to retaliate even when absorbing two hits. Gold pine resin or area item (fire/magic bombs) will work well when all sentinels are active, it's fairly easy to herd them together. When they're down to two, it's like fighting a neutered version of Ornstein and Smough; when the two remaining sentinels reach for your starting platform, do not hesitate to jump down and attack, it'll remove a good chunk of health from one of them. Run away, heal (the jump takes away a good amount of health), and be patient in attacking them.

[Tobal]

Nice.

Yesterday I pulled two sessions that amounted to 8 hours.
I'm loving co-op play, hit a wall when I reached the Ruin Sentinels : Alessia, Ricce & Yahim...
Any tips?

the 3 beanpoles with polearms?

Stay up on the ledge you drop on to and kill the 1st boss with usual shield/dodge combo to get behind him, swing once or twice depending on your stamina then back to circling/shield/dodge, 4 moves I remember, double diagonal swing, a tornado spin, jumping chop, and charge up chop, all but the spin is avoidable, so block or dodge away from him. Once 1st is dead heal up quickly/buff up, stay up on the ledge and wait for boss 2/3 come. One of them will reach you first you have about 10 seconds to smack the love of him before his mate turns at which point jump/roll down to the floor, run to the corner and heal up while they jump down.

Now the hard part, you have to stay middle distance from both bosses and tease the spin or the jumping chop of out one of them that will buy you time to get one swing in while they recover/before his mate gets to close. If you need to heal run into the corner and roll like a mad man once you finish drinking as they'll probably be right on top of you.

[Uli]

That's an interesting take on the Souls worlds. Without the constant threat of humiliating death by overpowered bosses I couldn't imagine them. Anyway, in answer to your request, you can't summon PSN friends of your choosing for coop, and probably not anyone at all unless and until FROM repair the PSN netcode that they just bust with v. 1.02 patch. Which means...you're probably on your own vs. Pursuer!

as for the threat of humiliating death, well i don't think you need boss-fights for this. exploring the world offers enough threats and a constant challenge to stay alive anyway. and then there's also invasion if you like to get humiliated

if i can't summon friends into my game how does co-op gameplay work then? could anybody of you guys join me at all?

update: Guide to Dark Souls 2 co-op

[S3M]

Nice.

Yesterday I pulled two sessions that amounted to 8 hours.
I'm loving co-op play, hit a wall when I reached the Ruin Sentinels : Alessia, Ricce & Yahim...
Any tips?

briareos_kerensky and Tobal are spot on with how to beat them that's how I did it, make sure the first one dies before you drop down.

You can also make the fight easier by

->Open Spoiler<-

Summoning the NPC found in one of the cell, just before the fight

Not sure if they can be used in the fight but

->Open Spoiler<-

there are a number of secret alcoves in the arena if you press the interact button against certain walls, don't know if it's possible to use them in the fight but if you can do they make a great place to hide.

Been playing for bit today just defeated

->Open Spoiler<-

Jabba the Hutt, you'll know the boss when you see it and Medusa, which is a near impossible fight if you don't remove the poison as she heals so quickly otherwise terrible fight.

[Golgo]

PS3 Invasions, PvP etc. are back and seem reasonably stable again.

Edit: Briareos already noted this, sorry!

[SUMIRE]

I always seem to hit a brick wall with this game, although eventually overcome it. This one is really annoying me though, controller throwing annoying. The rat graveyard bit, I have died so many damn times there and still cannot do it. Not really sure where else I can go to do next instead of it.

[briareos_kerensky]

I always seem to hit a brick wall with this game, although eventually overcome it. This one is really annoying me though, controller throwing annoying. The rat graveyard bit, I have died so many damn times there and still cannot do it. Not really sure where else I can go to do next instead of it.

I'm in almost the same situation. Facing the

->Open Spoiler<-

Executioner's Charriot

or

->Open Spoiler<-

the black phantom after the Belfry Gargoyles...the black phantom would be the easiest choice if he wasn't sorrounded by dogs that don't even let you climb down/land safely!

[DANGEROUS-3]

I've run out of human effigy ...

The last boss I beat (with help) were the three ruin sentinels.

I'm now up to the Lost Sinner boss, need phantoms, any ideas?

[Tobal]

I always seem to hit a brick wall with this game, although eventually overcome it. This one is really annoying me though, controller throwing annoying. The rat graveyard bit, I have died so many damn times there and still cannot do it. Not really sure where else I can go to do next instead of it.

Took me a few attempts but I did with pure melee, the rats as a group are pretty slow, you'll need to keep on the move going to each corner so thy lump on to one side allowing you to run/dodge around them, try and kill any stragglers or front row rats by either jump attacking or getting the rat to do a lunge attack(then block/dodge away) and then smacking it down. After a few kills the rat knight should appear who has spiked hair, go for him using jump attack and roll away as he doesn't stay stunned for long, patience is the key as he could end up in the middle of the rat pack for 1-2 minutes.

[SUMIRE]

Took me a few attempts but I did with pure melee, the rats as a group are pretty slow, you'll need to keep on the move going to each corner so thy lump on to one side allowing you to run/dodge around them, try and kill any stragglers or front row rats by either jump attacking or getting the rat to do a lunge attack(then block/dodge away) and then smacking it down. After a few kills the rat knight should appear who has spiked hair, go for him using jump attack and roll away as he doesn't stay stunned for long, patience is the key as he could end up in the middle of the rat pack for 1-2 minutes.

Damn, I didn't realize there was uber rat as well..oh gawd!

[chopemon]

The human effigy starvation is hitting me too. I know real men do it without summons but GOSH DARN the coop in this is great. Really enjoying tackling bosses with other players. If From made a MoHun style game it would be amazing.

Anyway, if you want humanity and think you can beat a boss, place a summon sign near a boss (you can place signs when hollowed) and wait to be summoned in. If you complete the boss you will become human. Admittedly you have to spend the time doing it and it isn't bankable humanity but you will become human.

Another way is to farm the dogs in Bastille. Make you you have item discovery boosting items equipped. If you have killed them all and they aren't respawning, one merchant sells a bonfire acetic that respawns the enemies again.

You can also kill two of the old hags in the starting area to get them to drop 6 effigies each. Make sure you don't kill the one that lets you respec. The merchant in Forest of Giants also sells them.

You can trade prism stones and small and silky stones in the nest in Things Betwixt to get effigies. They are about a 1 in 20 chance.

Not really sure why the effigy system seemed like a good idea. Losing health down to half health discourages exploration and trying risky, daring moves in bosses. I understand they don't want people to coop the whole game but the coop is awesome fun and losing health is just frustrating.