TLDR: my warrior fully upgraded their main weapon and now face a deficit of titanite chunks to upgrade other weapons, severely limiting my build in time when mages gain several new awesome spells as well as resources to upgrade their pyromancy flame and catalyst.
I’m replaying Dark Souls 2 (SotFS) after years of not touching the game and generally not spending much time with Souls-likes. I went for a warrior type, focusing on swords and crossbows. Despite not having access to any magic, I have a blast!
Yet, once the early game full of experimentations with weapons and drip fashion reached its’ end and I settled on a claymore +10 and a pretty looking “armor” set, my build became stale. I used up my titanite chunks on the claymore and I can’t gain more since the useless ore merchant can’t sell shit until you are 2 bosses away from winning. I have murakumo +7 and I switch to it sometimes but it’s hard to compete with a fully upgraded claymore.
The game throws twinkling titanite to me and I would love to use it on some cool weapon… but there are none! The only special weapon that could fit this build, Drangleic greatsword, is just worse than my claymore in terms of reach and moveset. Maybe it has a bit more damage when it’s fully upgraded but I’d still prefer the more convenient option.
Now, there are also boss weapons. Again, there’s only one that actually interests me - the flexile sentinel’s curved greatsword. It’s pretty similar to my murakumo except it weighs more and… that’s it? Stat scaling is a bit different but moveset seems identical. It looks cool though. But I dunno if it’s worth the investment. Are there other interesting boss weapons worth waiting for? I don’t really want to grind for petrified bones…
It’s especially aggravating because, when a mage reaches Drangleic castle, they get such a huge upgrade. Great combustion, several fire seeds, Soul greatsword, Firestorm, twinkling titanite for the best catalyst… it’s arguably the best part of the game for casters.
The way durability works in DS2 is by far my favorite. In DS1 it’s just a chore you must do from time to time, and in Demons Souls it’s actually quite a big tax on your souls, at least in the early game.
And I didn’t know that Bloodborne also use this type! I mean, it kinda makes sense since you can’t sit at a checkpoint but it could just as well be removed from the game entirely tbh. But I never played Bloodborne (no PS4) so what do I know!
In DS3 it’s so lenient that it might as well may not exist. I don’t think I ever depleted even half the durability bar on my weapon. I generally have issue with how DS3 devs tried to streamline everything and seriously overdid it (removed poise, return to mana, covenants as items, etc).
I haven’t played since the Amana session. Job hunting drains my time and energy, and summer’s heat is already here so it’s hard to just comfortably sit down at my PC and game for awhile. I do want to play though!
Hah, return to
monkemana might be my favorite change Fromsoft made for DS3. I was very glad to see it carry forward into Elden Ring. I have a whole rant and a half about Vancian magic, I never liked it, I don’t like it in D&D and I don’t like that they brought it to Dark Souls. I am a wizard, and I can cast exactly three fireballs. I’m not out of magical power after that, I’ve still got lightning bolts and magic missiles that I can sling at you, but I’ve completely forgotten how to cast the fireball I just cast 18 seconds ago. Gonna need a lil nap to address that.Mana bar just makes more sense to me. I stop casting fireballs because I’ve exhausted my innate supply of magical power, not because “i forgor 💀”
Ughhhhhhh. Yeah, been there. Best of luck to you my friend. Imagine a big “Unemployment Defeated” banner coming up when you’re finished, that’s from me.
Update: aaand Velstadt’s done! It was surprisingly easy, not counting quite a few shameful deaths from the blue flame-wielding ghosts. I’m still not fully done with the Crypt since I haven’t lit up the place but the royal ring’s on me.
Adgayne gave me his drip and it’s great. His katana is funny but I’m not a fan of it being nearly invisible at some angles so I threw it into my endless box.
Avelyn… avelyn!!! Such a great crossbow. Switched to it as soon as I could upgrade it. It’s a bit slower but I’m fine high risk, high reward.
The ore seller finally got them chunks! I bought out all 10 and maxed out avelyn and murakumo. I figured washing pole is too unreliable with its low durability, and it’s a bit slow to swing; uchigatana is nice but it’s diagonal attacks miss quite a lot, especially against small opponents; longsword is a bit too short and is kind of a boring choice honestly; and estoc is fairly situational - it’s great against slow armor-clad opponents but isn’t much against mobile enemies who may easily dodge estoc’s narrow attacks. Also, murakumo looks badass with the new Agdayne+thief set of mine!
Speaking of the grave warden’s set, I completely forgor that special equipment can only be upgraded to +5 so I spent most of my twinkling titanite maxing out the robe and kilt haha. It’s not such a big problem as I got an extraordinary amount of twinklies from enemies in the Shrine but it’s quite a silly situation.
Well, hit points are also very unrealistic in what they’re trying to depict. Game mechanics often require suspension of desbelieve to avoid making games actively painful to play (“oh no I was hit by an enemy now I have a 20% chance to suffer a deadly disease and I can’t heal from it because we’re in a medieval kingdom!”).
For me, the advantage of Vancian magic is the way it encourages the player to use “expensive” spells. Technically, both Vancian magic and mana system have a similar cost - preparing/casting one spell limits your ability to use other spells. But something about preparing spells at a bonfire instead of casting it in the middle of a journey makes it easier to sacrifice efficiency (using the most practical but boring spell like Soul Arrows to solve every encounter) for cooler and more powerful but also more expansive (less uses, more takes slots) spells like Storm pyromancies.
Thanks! “Humanity Restored” will follow quickly after.
That’s a fair point I guess about Vancian magic. I’m still not a fan, but I suppose I understand the reasoning behind it a little better. Because I am the kind of wizard that will find the most efficient mana-per-damage spell in my arsenal and sling that almost exclusively. Elden Ring got a whole lot of Carian Slicer and Glintstone Arc out of me.
Avelyn is a banger, that one used to be a monster in PvP. I kind of forgot it existed though lmao. Don’t think I’ve ever used it myself, even once. But for someone who wants to off-main a crossbow, it’s probably the best one you’re going to get your hands on. There’s an argument to be made for the Sanctum Crossbow I think, that one was my go-to, but it loses out on raw damage per trigger pull and you don’t get it until about halfway through Shulva which if you don’t do that DLC first may as well be postgame.
After poking the wiki about this, I also learned today for the first time ever that you can dual wield powerstance a pair of crossbows. I guess it makes sense that you can, I just never thought to try. John Wick akimbo build incoming.
Aw, lame, that’s the exact reason I like Darkdrift lol. It’s a bootleg Hidden Weapon that you don’t have to cast all the time, or do a no-death-no-bonfire run for the illusory rings. It’s not really useful, that effect does nothing in PvE and in PvP your opponent can still see that you’re swinging Darkdrift if they’re paying attention, it’s not like Hidden Weapon where you could be swinging anything with any amount of range under that spell. But it’s cool as hell though. Darkdrift is mediocre as katanas go in DS2 but a mediocre katana is still head and shoulders above most other weapons. It’s also possible to get a matched pair of them in the same NG+ cycle by abusing a bug, so long as you don’t mind having to murder Agdayne once your business is complete with him. Suppose that doesn’t help you much on this build, but maybe next time? Dub katanas is an easy dex build win.
I believe she upgrades one more time to unlimited chunks after you beat Watcher and Defender. It’s worth hitting them as early as possible for that reason. You’ll still have to go hunt down elemental stones and titanite slabs though, stay stingy with those.
… Matter of fact, now that I think about it, now that you have the King’s Ring in your pocket I think you can go fight them right now and just get that out of the way. You’ll need the Ashen Mist Heart and etc. to actually complete the game but I don’t think that comes into play until after Nashandra.
And frequently end up with as good or better stats than a whole +10 regular item. Special items scale a ton per upgrade. A +1 special weapon will often carry me just as far as a +3 or +4 regular weapon. This extends to armor too. Don’t be afraid to invest in them, they’re “special” for reasons. Twinkling Titanite is also relatively infinite so long as you don’t mind farming for it, so it’s not like you’ll run out. If you don’t plan on going into NG+, ascetic the Dragon Aerie a few times when you get there and just sprint through it destroying all the crystal lizards and ignoring everything else, you’ll leave with a few dozen twinklies and elemental stones.
If you do plan on going into NG+, uh, don’t do that. Ask me how I know. 😅
I can’t remember many RPGs where this is discouraged. Only the first two Dark Souls games but the first DS doesn’t have enough spells for it to actually change things so DS2 ends up being the only such game.
There’s actually one scripted invader in Tseldora who dual wields two avelyns. In a hell of a place too.
I’m not a huge fan of katanas because of their annoying diagonal attacks that miss small/moving targets a lot. I much prefer wide horizontal swings combined with either a thrust or a top-down crush as a strong attack.
That will be my next target then!
Aldia’s Keep is behind me now and the Crypt is cleared of its treasures. Souls of Gwyn and Nito are also on me but the other two proved to be a bit harder (Freya mostly thanks to the runback to it; the boss’s easy). I also ascended the Crypt bonfire as I want to get the best royal soldier ring. Almost killed Velstadt and then he one-shotted me with a lucky move. Twin Pursuers is another of my NG+ goals but that will be really hard haha.
Twin Pursuers… That was a fight that I did once, just to prove that I could, and I think I completely skipped past it every time after that. I have never found myself in dire enough need of an extra 15 AR to put myself through that again, lmao. It’s amazing the difficulty spike you get with two Pursuers versus one. Solo, they’re some of the easiest proper boss fights in the game. Duo, they’ll slap your shit silly.
Oh, I know you can dual wield them, I didn’t realize you could powerstance them. There is a difference. You can dual wield two of anything, but if you want to stance them, there are some conditions. Wield two of the same class of weapons and have 1.5x the required stats, and hold down your 2H swap button. You’ll get a unique paired moveset.
Again, it totally makes sense that you would be able to do this with crossbows, I just never thought to try. You can’t do it with bows or magic staves, so it just never crossed my mind that it could be a possibility.
Very fair and valid. The game has two dozen weapon types to choose from for just such a reason.
I once again recommend that you check into the Crypt Blacksword, if that’s what you like. I know you’re not big on two-handing your weapons this run, so maybe next time. But CBS’ two hand moveset is exactly that, and one hand is also quite good for an Ultra weapon. It stays one of my top 5 pieces of gear in the game, I love it dearly.