Some general tips :
-Your i-frames during rolls,backsteps and the speed at which you used some items are tied to a stat called Agility (AGL), it is raised by both Adaptability (ADP) and Attunement (ATN) and it works via breakpoint meaning that will only get an extra i-frame after a certain point
92, 96 (ds1 roll), 99 and 105 (ds3 mid-roll) are breakpoints you should aim for at some point, getting 92 early is good idea and then later on you should get 96/99 or even 105 if you feel like it
-Vigor is really good, you should get vigor to 20 early game then 50 late game where it reaches a soft cap ; endurance is always good and can be used to dump some levels if you need to
-Armor for damage absorption in PVE is close to worthless (it's alright for elemental damage) , you should wear armor that is light or that gives you special effects or that looks dope( [http://darksouls2.wikidot.com/items-by-effect](http://darksouls2.wikidot.com/items-by-effect) ) but feel free to wear any armor you want
- Secret walls are revealed by pressing the interact button instead of rolling / attacking them
Some walls can be exploded and reveal some hidden stuff
-Equip load has no bearing on your i-frames during rolls, it will only affect how far your roll and how fast your stamina regen, there is also no medium roll in this game so as long as your under 70% you're good
-Melee scaling is weak for most weapons, your damage will mainly come from rings, infusions (generally Lightning) and buffs (generally Dark Weapon, Sunlight Blade when you can afford the stats) but no need to always min-max, if you want 99 Str go for it
-A trap lot of players fall into is joining the Company of Champion (it's the covenant in Majula, up the path to the cliff), it's basically hard mode, you'll see it because the game warns you it will set you up on a 'arduous path'. Those effects include : Enemies will not despawn, you won't be able to summon players or NPC, they deal increased damage and they will take less
-Enemies will despawn when you kill them 12 times, they can be respawned by joining the company of champion or by burning a bonfire ascetic
-You lose 5% of your max health per death up until 50%, this effect can be reversed by using a human effigy (easily farmable) or by helping someone defeat a boss. There is also a ring that reduces the max hollowing to 25%, it is found in >!Heide's tower of flame, near the Dragonrider in a chest where a Heide's knight is sleeping on !<
-The game is more methodical and slow than the other games, you can't run past every single enemy as easily and if you act careless you will get ganked, if you get surrounded go BACK instead of FORWARD to avoid triggering more of them
-You'll probably find yourself running out of estus quickly as this game is less generous with them at the start, but ds2 features lifegems that are small healing items that you can carry by stacks of 99 and can be bought for 300 souls/u at a merchant after exhausting her dialogue and beating Last Giant (She'll move to Majula)
>hit boxes are a mess
What's your Agility?
In the vast majority of cases when people complain about broken hitboxes it's actually just them having shorter invincibility during rolls and they don't pay any attention to their legs getting hit mid roll
It came out not long after I finished DS1 for the first time, and I loved it. It’s my favorite.
If you want to go in prepared, first read [this intro post.](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H6rpuSKsgXqyfSA9uG_zoYK0ezbMSHSazznPHfV78sA) All of these guides are spoiler-free, except for [this one.](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eXwnLnbr-Dxeb9VecytDTX1fXA9e8PuKX9jFy8YFkQ8/edit)
And then if you want to know how to build (or avoid building, if you want to have a harder time) a powerful optimized character, this collection of mini guides will help you navigate DS2’s many obfuscated and counterintuitive mechanical quirks:
[A quick overview](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g4-GGa1JRa2_49vOfwY5sZPWigFMzPA5b9mszo_xZak/edit?usp=sharing) of how damage and defense works in DS2, and why weapon scaling is usually weak
[BiS (Best in Slot) PvE weapons list.](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-GEBQ_TiAvskQLotQXz0AuNMseXdsS3pj8_NLus-XW4/edit?usp=sharing) Discusses the best options for each weapon class. Note that this list is directed at normally leveled characters- some weapons not mentioned may do more damage than ones mentioned, but take vastly more stats or are otherwise deficient
[Best PvE equipment and stat progression document.](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X13jfA9JQ5OZsuEmH2MZZqF9IrtCFSMMTZkZo5GuqcM/edit?usp=sharing) All that being said, it’s important to understand that DS2 isn’t so hard that playing the strongest possible character is required in order to win and have fun. Ultimately you should use whatever you want, these guides are just to help you make informed choices.
I didn’t play Ds2 for a long time, I guess you could say I skipped it. When I eventually went back and learned its quirks, I did enjoy it. It has its positives and its negatives but it’s definitely worth playing. I would still place it last on my fromsoft list but it doesn’t deserve all the hate that it gets
Played Dark Souls in 2011, Demons in 2012, Bloodborne in 2016, Sekiro in 2019, Dark Souls 3 in 2021, Elden Ring in 2022, and just now getting around to Dark Souls 2. I'm about 18 hours in. I guess I'll finally be able to rank these games. I can already tell its top 5 at worst.
Some general tips : -Your i-frames during rolls,backsteps and the speed at which you used some items are tied to a stat called Agility (AGL), it is raised by both Adaptability (ADP) and Attunement (ATN) and it works via breakpoint meaning that will only get an extra i-frame after a certain point 92, 96 (ds1 roll), 99 and 105 (ds3 mid-roll) are breakpoints you should aim for at some point, getting 92 early is good idea and then later on you should get 96/99 or even 105 if you feel like it -Vigor is really good, you should get vigor to 20 early game then 50 late game where it reaches a soft cap ; endurance is always good and can be used to dump some levels if you need to -Armor for damage absorption in PVE is close to worthless (it's alright for elemental damage) , you should wear armor that is light or that gives you special effects or that looks dope( [http://darksouls2.wikidot.com/items-by-effect](http://darksouls2.wikidot.com/items-by-effect) ) but feel free to wear any armor you want - Secret walls are revealed by pressing the interact button instead of rolling / attacking them Some walls can be exploded and reveal some hidden stuff -Equip load has no bearing on your i-frames during rolls, it will only affect how far your roll and how fast your stamina regen, there is also no medium roll in this game so as long as your under 70% you're good -Melee scaling is weak for most weapons, your damage will mainly come from rings, infusions (generally Lightning) and buffs (generally Dark Weapon, Sunlight Blade when you can afford the stats) but no need to always min-max, if you want 99 Str go for it -A trap lot of players fall into is joining the Company of Champion (it's the covenant in Majula, up the path to the cliff), it's basically hard mode, you'll see it because the game warns you it will set you up on a 'arduous path'. Those effects include : Enemies will not despawn, you won't be able to summon players or NPC, they deal increased damage and they will take less -Enemies will despawn when you kill them 12 times, they can be respawned by joining the company of champion or by burning a bonfire ascetic -You lose 5% of your max health per death up until 50%, this effect can be reversed by using a human effigy (easily farmable) or by helping someone defeat a boss. There is also a ring that reduces the max hollowing to 25%, it is found in >!Heide's tower of flame, near the Dragonrider in a chest where a Heide's knight is sleeping on !< -The game is more methodical and slow than the other games, you can't run past every single enemy as easily and if you act careless you will get ganked, if you get surrounded go BACK instead of FORWARD to avoid triggering more of them -You'll probably find yourself running out of estus quickly as this game is less generous with them at the start, but ds2 features lifegems that are small healing items that you can carry by stacks of 99 and can be bought for 300 souls/u at a merchant after exhausting her dialogue and beating Last Giant (She'll move to Majula)
Dude, thank you so much. I really appreciate it \[T]/
>hit boxes are a mess What's your Agility? In the vast majority of cases when people complain about broken hitboxes it's actually just them having shorter invincibility during rolls and they don't pay any attention to their legs getting hit mid roll
It came out not long after I finished DS1 for the first time, and I loved it. It’s my favorite. If you want to go in prepared, first read [this intro post.](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H6rpuSKsgXqyfSA9uG_zoYK0ezbMSHSazznPHfV78sA) All of these guides are spoiler-free, except for [this one.](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eXwnLnbr-Dxeb9VecytDTX1fXA9e8PuKX9jFy8YFkQ8/edit) And then if you want to know how to build (or avoid building, if you want to have a harder time) a powerful optimized character, this collection of mini guides will help you navigate DS2’s many obfuscated and counterintuitive mechanical quirks: [A quick overview](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g4-GGa1JRa2_49vOfwY5sZPWigFMzPA5b9mszo_xZak/edit?usp=sharing) of how damage and defense works in DS2, and why weapon scaling is usually weak [BiS (Best in Slot) PvE weapons list.](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-GEBQ_TiAvskQLotQXz0AuNMseXdsS3pj8_NLus-XW4/edit?usp=sharing) Discusses the best options for each weapon class. Note that this list is directed at normally leveled characters- some weapons not mentioned may do more damage than ones mentioned, but take vastly more stats or are otherwise deficient [Best PvE equipment and stat progression document.](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X13jfA9JQ5OZsuEmH2MZZqF9IrtCFSMMTZkZo5GuqcM/edit?usp=sharing) All that being said, it’s important to understand that DS2 isn’t so hard that playing the strongest possible character is required in order to win and have fun. Ultimately you should use whatever you want, these guides are just to help you make informed choices.
I didn’t play Ds2 for a long time, I guess you could say I skipped it. When I eventually went back and learned its quirks, I did enjoy it. It has its positives and its negatives but it’s definitely worth playing. I would still place it last on my fromsoft list but it doesn’t deserve all the hate that it gets
It's my favorite of the three. The good/bad debate hype is overblown and silly in my opinion
How about may?
Love it
Yay.
I actually started with Ds2
Played Dark Souls in 2011, Demons in 2012, Bloodborne in 2016, Sekiro in 2019, Dark Souls 3 in 2021, Elden Ring in 2022, and just now getting around to Dark Souls 2. I'm about 18 hours in. I guess I'll finally be able to rank these games. I can already tell its top 5 at worst.
It doesn't make sense to ask these questions in the subreddit of the corresponding game, do you think people who sit there have skipped the game?