PixlBit

Ok, who's played it so far?

Playing it right now. All I can say is fuck From Software. The newest patch completely destroys faith casters. Each of my lightning spears has 3 uses instead of 6. The use of Sunlight Spear and Great Lightning Spear are also diminished. Ah well.

 I've died a lot already. These enemies cannot be staggered, making a strength playthrough less appealing.

I hope you and Yarger do some write ups. I was waiting on all DLCs to come out to jump back in. Sounds terrible. You have to roll a certain class to get through? Is this content for over leveled pros or what?

No, you don't have to roll a certain character, you just have to adjust your play style. I'll be reviewing it soon. Two things to note: Bonfires are in shorter supply. The levels are more open and Labrynthian. Overall, it is more difficult than the main game, however, enemy encounters tend to be more interesting, especially with regards the bosses. I haven't finished it yet, but I am enjoying my time thus far.

Okay! Cool! Is there anything interesting added to the lore in the DLC? Connections to Dark Souls 1 for example?

Just got my review code late last night and I began the download before I left for work today. Hopefully I'll be balls deep in it tonight! I'll keep you all informed!

I probably won't be playing any of the three for a long time. I'm waiting till they're all out, and plus you can only access them at certain points in the game from what I heard, so I'll probably have to wait to start a whole new playthrough and then come across the DLCs whenever you get access to them.

I still haven't played AotA either so I don't typically bother with DLCs unless it's a Fallout game. Even though DS1 is my favorite rpg, still didn't care enough lol. I'll say what I said about AotA then, it looks super rad and I probably won't ever play it :p

You're missing out. AotA is one of the best DLC packs I've ever played. It has some of the coolest bosses in Souls' history!

Also, with this, you only need to have defeated the Rotten. If you've done that, you're all good.

Also, Hint: Stock up on arrows. You'll need them for switches and stuff.

That sounds pretty good, Blake. I actually have a character in the game that's in the Doors of Pharros and beat Rotten not too long ago, so in theory I could jump into the DLC right now?

What's this about them patching Faith casters? That character I have that i just mentioned happens to be a Faith caster lol. What kind of things have they changed?

What's with all the switches in this DLC? It's like Tomb Raider meets Zelda? Actually, this isn't bad combo right? Right? And can you stagger these soldier dudes or what? They're like the giants at the beginning, but slimmed down. Interesting...

I was 2 handing the dragons tooth to knock them on their asses. Works pretty well. Single them out, knock them on their ass, wait till thye get up, hit them again and they were dead.

 Also, there seems to be quite a lack of bonfires. It makes exploration incredibly tense.

Yep, you'll be right from that point.

Faith casters have had lightning spears usage halved, and the great lightning spear has been reduced as well. Sunlight Spear appears to have only lost one usage though.

Aside from enemies, the layout is kind of a nightmare in itself. I was wondering about the 'Mayan' art motifs on the walls. It seems  to be very deliberate reference to the 'real' world, or lazy artists. I have noticed the lack of  bonfires. I will try the dragon tooth. Thanks.

I was wondering if the level is designed  to be run through, or fought through? At the moment I'm fighting everything, not sure if  I should be sprinting past enemies. It's a puzzle.

 The best thing about the level design is it goes back to the Dark Souls/Demon's Souls motif of finding shortcuts and getting lost. I really enjoy it.

I wasn't complaining about the layout, just pointing out that the level design adds to the challenge. I don't think the environment was used as much in the main game, except for some boss fights, like the poision in harvest valley boss  for example.

I knew as soon as I traded in my copy of Dark Souls 2 that I fucked up.

Oh well....I'll ask the ol lady for a copy plus DLC for my bday in September.  Til then.....I'm lurking this forum post.

it was only a matter of time before they nerfed the Miracle "spear" projectiles....makes me damn glad I got that playstyle out of the way during my first run.  Is this just inherent in the DLC, or was it nerfed throughout the entire game? 

Goddamnit lol. I'm sure I can still manage with the reduced usages, but up till this point I was almost entirely relying on all those usages to plow my way through bosses. Way back in my first playthrough I had the worst time fighting the Belfry Gargoyles with my melee build for example. Second playthrough with a Faith build I tore through them even with the standard Lightning Spear miracle.

Is it just the usages that they reduced, Blake? Hopefully they didn't change anything about the scaling. My Faith build was doing a bonkers amount of damage with Great Lightning Spear and a +10 Lightning Bastard Sword which I thought was awesome.

It is just reduced usage, but it's bad enough that I used the soul vessel to completely respec my character because It was entirely built around being a faith build.

Why the fuck can a boss summon another boss? Seriously? There isn't even an option to for an NPC to join if you're offline. Okay? I'm sure the boss fight is a piece of cake, but seriously? A boss summoning another fucking boss? What is this? Final Fantasy? Well played FROM Soft. Well played!

Oy..
So here we go;

I got my review copy of the DLC not too long ago. However, I fought tooth and nail yesterday to keep my Playstation online, because for whatever reason, it simply wouldn't stay connected to the internet (Despite the fact that my phone, X1, iPad, Laptop, etc. would all connect without hassle, it was only my PS3). So I was in a bit of debate when I started the game, and I ended up actually making a whole new character to play through as since my other characters were over level 200-300 and in NG++.

So as of right now, I'm realizing how shitty bow-only runs are. I kind of forgot after my stint of a bow-only playthrough on Dark Souls I, but yeah, I'm paying the piper now and I'm constantly getting my ass handed to me. I suppose I could rush through until the DLC and then re-roll my stats, but fuck it, I'm going for it all.

Gotta be dedicated!

Did your internet problem stop you from downloading the DLC, or from doing coop in the new DLC? That's why my main character never went to NG+, only my alts did. So I can see if there are changes with DLC, and I will not go to NG+ on my main until all the DLC is out, or maybe not even there. I imagine that NG+ version of DLC is real tuff. Good luck playing catch up. You're a pro though, so it should take you a short time, plus you can probably just help kill bosses in coop to level faster. I really wanted your impressions though. : (

Impressions are in the works mate! I'm making more and more progress everyday, hoping to hit it up here really soon!

And the internet prevented me from downloading/installing the patch I needed (which was well over 550mb) to play the DLC.

Bow-only run in any of the Souls worlds is fucken INSANE.

I've got more respect for you now than I already did, Mr Yarger