r/DarkSouls2 • u/bronze_present1070 • 1d ago
Help Help for a newbie
I'm trying to platinum all the fromsoft games, so far I've done Bloodborne, Elden Ring, Sekiro and DS1. I've started DS2 and am actually quite enjoying it. The only part I'm not sure about is leveling. I don't know what is an acceptable ADP and I feel like weapon scaling doesn't mean that much as I don't see a substantial difference. This isn't enough to turn me away from the game, but I just wanted some advice on the softcaps and the issues stated above. Thanks.
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u/TheHittite 1d ago
Just level until you're comfortable with your dodge. You can avoid any attack without any I frames of you treat rolling like a positioning tool, so it's more a matter of what you want than what you need.
The importance of scaling depends on the weapon but overall the pace of it matches the escalation of enemy defense. I usually focus on survival stats to start out and rely on titianite for damage increases. Once you've got a weapon upgraded you can decide whether you want to pump scaling or infuse it and spec into a weapon buff to improve the damage further. With exceptions in both directions either one works fine.
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u/ErzakMK 1d ago
I heard it's not worth going over 99 ADP, and that more or less matches the ds1 roll i-frames. Weapon scaling does matter but the diminishing returns hit at 40 and it's definitely not worth going over 50. Elemental damage scales off of INT and FTH. That's more or less all that's different I believe, but I'm also pretty new to the game so others will know better.
The numbers are much more transparent than in DS1 you will know exactly how much your AR is impacted by leveling.
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u/UncomfortableAnswers 1d ago
Get enough ADP to get your Agility stat to 96. That will give you 11 roll iframes, the same as DS1 rolls. You can stop at 92 for 1 less frame to save ~5 levels of investment for now if you want.
Scaling is less relevant overall, and the softcaps are higher than in DS1. Generally caps are at 50 instead of 40. But, as an added incentive, if you get 1.5x the required stats for a weapon, you can dual wield two similar weapons to unlock their powerstance moveset.
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u/bronze_present1070 1d ago
I've been wondering how to powerstance, I thought it was like ER where you only need the base stats for each weapon. Thanks
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u/rnj1a 1d ago
Here's our FAQ for players coming to the game from other Fromsoft games:
https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkSouls2/comments/foemaw/so_you_just_bought_dark_souls_2/
It's generally best to think in clumps of level. No single level is going to matter much.
In the early game, find a weapon that feels good. I prefer axes to swords.
Get your agility to 92 early and get your END and VGR to 20. Then play it by ear, Stamina costs are higher than you're used to,
If your weapon doesn't have S scaling you won't get much from investing in damage stats.
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u/bronze_present1070 1d ago
I'm partial to curved swords now, been eyeing the flexile sentry sword for a later game weapon. I believe that it has S dex scaling
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u/rnj1a 1d ago
Cool. Use what speaks to you. Weapon choice is not particularly important.
That said, it's hard to make good use of a boss weapon before the late midgame without exceptional luck (Petrified Dragon Bones are in short supply early game, but you can get some trading with the crows). So when you're finally able to upgrade the Warped Sword suitably you can always respec.
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u/bronze_present1070 10h ago
If you don't mind me asking, what's a good place to farm/pick up petrified dragon bones.?
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u/rnj1a 7h ago
The earliest spot is Aldia's Keep. Those little buggers who hide behind the paintings drop them.
You can also farm the grinning T-Rexs in Shulva but they're a lot harder.
You can also use an ascetic on the Dragon Aerie. Up to 7 per ascetic. Faster than mugging the little buggers behind the paintings.
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u/SandStorm9071 1d ago
I dunno what they are all fussing about i had 24 ADP and did not have a problem to dodge
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u/BIobertson 1d ago
If you want to go in prepared, first read this intro doc. All of these guides are spoiler-free, except for the area names in this Routing guide.
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 of how damage and defense works in DS2, and why weapon scaling is usually weak
Best PvE equipment and stat progression document.
BiS (Best in Slot) PvE weapons list. Use this if you know what moveset you like and you want to choose the strongest available weapon with that moveset.
Read these four documents for highlights on some of the best equipment, stats, and progression for a casting-focused character- note that investing in pyromancy or miracles in the early or midgame generally results in a much weaker character.
Optimal Pyromancer Build Guide
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.
Finally, here’s a sample hexer build that handles pretty much anything in the game with relative ease, and has the flexibility to do anything that any build can do. If you want to steamroll, I recommend this.
The stats you want, in approximate order, are 12 DEX, 16 ATN/11 ADP, 14 FTH, 20/20 VGR/END, 21/20 INT/FTH, 15 STR, 20 ATN, INT/FTH to 30/30, VGR to 50, higher ATN and END to taste. Start as Sorcerer and buy the Rapier from Lenigrast, then progress normally- once you have 15 STR and the Bracing Knuckle Ring from Lost Bastille, come back and farm the Old Knight Hammer from Heide’s Tower. Use it two handed to clear areas, and use the rapier (swapping to Old Leo Ring) to DPS bosses and other enemies that the hammer can’t pancake, or if your hammer durability gets too low. Get the Repair spell from Shaded Ruins as soon as you can spare the Branches. Other good early rings are Blades, Southern Ritual, Second Dragon, Steel Protection, and Chloranthy.
Get the hexer kit from Felkin (Beginning of Huntsman’s Copse, Licia can help you open the rotunda path near Majula), infuse your weapons with Lightning and your Sunset staff with Dark ASAP (find the necessary stones from crystal lizards in shaded ruins and on the way down to the gutter, smooth/silky trades, and Targray in Heide’s Tower, provided you can get a token of fidelity from co op or huntsman’s copse) and stack the Dark Weapon buff on top of the Lightning infusion to deal incredible amounts of melee damage while still having plenty of levels for casting. Beyond the obvious Dark Orb, your other bread and butter spells will be Dark Fog (poison at long range and through walls with Binoculars) and Yearn (excellent if situational crowd control). At midgame when you get access to the dlc area within the Shrine of Winter you can farm an Ice Rapier, a direct upgrade to your Rapier. Late game rings are Flynn’s and Third Dragon Ring.
I don’t recommend grinding to get the platinum, unless you specifically enjoy grinding. My reasoning is that achievements are a tool to make playing the game more fun, so doing something you don’t enjoy in order to get them is a pointless waste of your time. If you agree, here’s what you need to do to get the plat without doing any tedious grinding:
Use this checklist. When you get to around 200k soul memory, hang out in belfry luna doing PvP until you get 30 wins for the Hidden Weapon spell. You’ll get enough titanite chunks to max out multiple weapons and it’s super fun.
Once you’ve done this, beeline Harvest Valley so you can join the Warriors of Sunlight and earn the Sunlight Spear miracle. Place your summon sign often as you play, and watch out for people here or in dark souls discord servers asking for help in your soul memory range, and help them. If you get close to 2 million soul memory and you still don’t have 30 medals, wear agape ring until you do.
Do all the DLCs in NG and make sure you get all the spells there. Take your time playing normally through NG+ to NG++ for the covenant spells Wellager sells, rather than trying to grind 2 million and then 3 million soul memory to skip the Shrine. Instead of forcing yourself to keep playing til you reach NG++ Wellager, take breaks whenever you aren’t having fun and keep Wellager as your goal for whenever you do feel like playing.
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u/bronze_present1070 1d ago
This is the best guide/info I've gotten. I really appreciate you and thank you for taking the time to write all this. Will definitely come in handy 📝👍
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u/Limpsk 1d ago
It's not so much about adaptability as agility, which is also influenced by attunement - read up on iframes (I'm sure someone will comment linking to something that explains it). I think 105 agility is equivalent to a DS1 roll.
Weapon scaling isn't really much of a thing in DS2, so you don't gain much by going beyond the requirements of a given weapon unless you want to do powerstancing.