Death by gravity : 7 Death by enemies : 27 Death by traps : 1 Dennis : 9 Dragon rider : 2 The pursuer : 1 Old Dragon Slayer: 1 best death award : 1:03:20
@@Wuggernaut Don't get cocky. The difficulty level spikes in a little bit. And then again after that. And again with every dlc. Maybe do get cocky so we can see you get frustrated after being demolished over and over again.
Multiple people have already let you know but merchant hag malentia sells unlimited lifegems. When I’m playing ds2 I pretty much dump all my leftover souls after leveling and upgrading into buying lifegems. They are so useful and you can hold a ton of them you should use them more often when you’re out exploring and don’t want to waste precious estus between enemies Ps love the playthrough, it’s so nice to see someone experience souls for the first time. Ds2 isn’t perfect but the atmosphere is my favorite of all the games. Hope you enjoy and most importantly, don’t go hollow friend 💕
Cheesing the firedrake next to the cathedral is a longstanding DS2 tradition! Welcome to the club! I do recommend maintaining (ie upgrading) a bow, even if it's just a basic shortbow or light crossbow... it's a very useful thing to have on you.
@@MontgomeryWenis To be fair, they are much better in DS2... I still recommend a bow for DS1 players, but just goes to show you can ultimately do without it, if you are determined not to use it.
Good job, enjoying your playthrough, can't wait to see your reactions to some areas. The heide knights are annoying with their weird jerking attacks, good job with the spear one. You can kill the dragon by just running past the flames and fighting it but using a bow is easier, even if it's tedious. The watchdragon parma is ok as a shield but what's it's actually useful for is, it increases your item discovery, so enemies are more likely to drop stuff while its equipped.
yeah!! my favorite. Started to watch you recently. I am big fan of DS2, it is my favorite, I love to see how other people play it. I also did play other souls game, but DS2 was my first one, thus I cannot stop loving it the most
The Bastard Sword is actually quite a good sword, even if it's the most basic of all the "greatswords." Over time, the scaling will reward you, though with lower stats (or more int/faith) the fire longsword will be more efficient. Feel free to upgrade either, or both as you see fit - you can afford a few interim weapons, even if titianite is initially limited. You can also always imbue the bastard sword with fire if you really want to... that is reversible, so even if it isn't the best long term plan you aren't locked in.
Great episode and excelently played, especially with the turtle knight gang. Dragon can be reached just by running to it before it wakes up. Also a tip for next and future episodes, start using the torch for dark areas and it's useful in other situations. Sconces in areas you lite stay lit and are a source to re-light your own. Can't wait for more, these episodes seem too short.
Hi Wuggs! The pursuer fight was professionally done, but let's face it, Dennis was the real menace. Two-handing increases your strength by 50%, so for something that requires 20 strength to wield, you only need 14 strength to use two-handed! So you could already wield that bastard sword when you got it! The message was only because you equip weapons to one hand automatically. Also, ds2 has some of the best fashion souls in the series, so try out all the armour sets!
@@Wuggernaut Small bit of clarification, in Dark Souls 2, two-handing doubles your strength when checking required stats, but not when checking for attack scaling.
After all the worthy adversaries we've seen so far (orenstein and smough, silver knight archers, capra demon, blighttown, etc..) who knew that wuggs mortal enemy would turn out to be Hacker Dennis
Top episode as always wuggs! Certain NPCs may only talk to you when certain stats are high enough, and there's often a slight clue in what they say when they reject you initially :) lets just say that Appreciate all the hard work as always dude
Wuggs: marvels at how many souls he has multiple times Also Wuggs: not wearing Silver Serpent ring I literally spent half this episode yelling at my screen lol
I Wonder why no one Give tip adout damage type : 1 strike - use against armored enemy like knights in heide 2 pierce- medium armored ones/ trick hide/ scales 3 slash- light armored/ no visible armor You can see what kind of damage type wepon deal in description, and it makes dealing with enemies easier . Anyway im enjoing your adventure, good lick in this underrated gem of souls series :)
F*cking great episode this week Wuggs! You had me rolling with laughter for all the right reasons. I'm lovin the new transition during lore descriptions as well. It's pretty slick. Hey, remember when I told you to invest in a backup weapon? Now you have one! Look on the bright side in this circumstance. I know you expected that bastard sword to be much better than what you have, but you still have ALOT of game left to find your main. It's out there dawg. Don't be too bothered by "wasting" upgrade materials. You'll get plenty more. Embrace variety for now.... And learn how to use a torch ffs. There are secrets involved, and you'll be able to see for once. You're killin it my dude. I'm having a great time, and I hope you are too. Looking forward to next week.
Don’t forget… you can use the bow to draw out enemies one at a time…. Also if you run through the fire and get beneath the dragon, it’s not a hard fight
Man Heide's tower is truly miserable after you kill the boss (the flashbacks... 🥲) You played it a lot better than me tho, so kudos to you. Also, I'm so glad you left the covenant of champions. You're clearly enjoying the game and that covenant could've changed that pretty fast on a first playthrough.
Just a tip, the guy that wouldn't talk to you in the cathedral is a different covenant than the one with the man in Majula...One protects you by summoning a blue when you get invaded and the other lets be the blue that gets summoned to help other people...
If you put down your own summon sign to assist someone else in their world, upon completing the mission, your estus, weapon durabilities, and health will be restored. It’s like resting at a bonfire, but without respawning the enemies. If you use the small white soapstone, you can be summoned into a world for a limited duration, and aren’t committed to remaining summoned until the area boss is defeated. As long as you don’t die, when you return to your world, the aforementioned stuff will be restored and you will be rewarded with a smooth and silky stone, to fuel your gambling addiction with the crow’s nest. When playing, I use the small white soapstone all the time to keep myself in good shape. Is this a little cheesy? Probably, but it’s an intended game mechanic. The watch dragon parma increases item discovery. Use it if you need to farm.
I've only seen this hinted at in one comment but the reason the Bastard Sword disappointed was directly due to the enemies you were attacking. Heavily armoured dudes, such the ones in Heide's Tower, are pretty resistant to the Slash damage it does. It scales very well with Str, Dex and upgrades and can hold its own for most of the game. Although I do think it's just a slightly worse Claymore as it lacks a decent Thrust attack. Slaymore forever! (if you don't lose your head you will find one) If you had a mace or club you would have been shocked by how easily the Heide enemies go down, turtle knights too just get splatted by Strike Damage. As you noticed though they do take a decent chunk of damage from Fire attacks. Well done at getting through post Dragonrider Heide's Tower though, I always find that one of the hardest parts of a playthrough if I am being stubborn and stick to a Slash damage build. Don't worry too much about the Blue knight dude, he is a pvp covenant vendor and you need to engage with the cracked blue orbs or white summon soapstone and succeed at aiding another player to talk to him. (you can also find an item hidden much later to talk to him but this won't add anything important to your playthrough and he is mostly there for the PVP covenant)
Drummond's Drangleic Armor is some of the most impressive looking armor in the kingdom... it's also some of the heaviest, but the protection it offers is incredible. You'll need to raise your vitality if you want to improve your equip load (there are also rings that can help). Also, don't forget to upgrade your armor once you find a set you really like - many Dark Souls players ignore armor upgrades, but it actually makes a huge difference (it's just a waste to heavily improve armor if you are going to switch armor sets all the time).
@@Wuggernaut The catch is that it requires twinkling titanite, which is limited - some of the most interesting armors and weapons demand it, so you have to pick and choose. (Of course, you can always farm it with bonfire ascetics, though, if you don't mind grinding).
In DS1, when you swing a weapon around and you don't meet the stat requirements for it, it's a slow and clumsy attack. DS2 is different because you can still swing weapons around normally even if you don't meet the stat requirements but you'll do less damage. Tip: Even if you don't meet the stat requirements for it, Equip a weapon you want to use and test out how each attack works with that weapon. This is a good way to get comfortable with a weapon before getting into actual combat and also a titanite saver if you end up not liking a weapon that your testing out.
59:26 It's not that bad. The fire longsword does split damage which means the damage needs to go through both fire and physical defense, so the total damage number is a bit inflated compared to a pure physical weapon.
Great video 🙈 personally, the Bastard sword was my loyal companion throughout literally all the game. I remember I infused them with magic, fire and lightning 😂 Btw, you should check the entrance to Majula again since there's a place where you can fall down... 🤐 Greetings from Argentina 🇦🇷
56:30 Split damage weapons have each defense reduced separetely by the enemies' defenses. The bastard sword is actually significantly better than the fire sword.
Nice part :) Indeed, the Old Dragonslayer is weaker than Ornstein (and honestly, I think that bringing him into the game is more fanservice than anything). But also - the Old Dragonslayer could be the first boss you encounter. Or the fourth (like for you). Here are some things I wanted to mention: 1. The Key for the Door next to the Last Giant is not in that area. You will find it and you will know from the Item Description that you found it. But you are not missing something right now. 2. I dont know if you have noticed it yet, but Endurance does not grant Equip Load. This is a separate stat, VIT (Vitality). Vigor is what levels up HP (VGR), but Vitality raises Equip Load. So if you need more, you can increase it. (Which will most likely happen, Strength-Weapons tend to be heavy) 3. You can try out weapons even if you dont meet the Stats. They cannot be used in the Battle, but you can see the Moveset. E.g. you can try out the Drangleic Sword and see if you like the Moveset, before you put Points into Dex for example to wield it. 4. Regarding the Covenant at the Cathedral of the Blue - this is a different one than the one in Majula. I wont say how you can join it (since you said it), but I thought I just mention that those are two covenants and not one.
@@Wuggernaut Thank you very much for the kind words :) I really like your playthroughs of Dark Souls, it is my favorite series and I love to watch people play it for the first time (my favorite moment is always when they discover the connections to Firelink Shrine in DS1 :D ), but your playthroughs are my favorites so far :) So I like to help out where I can :)
Great Video again Wuggs with some very interesting actions and reactions I am so happy that you remembered not to go into new areas blindly 16:57 I really felt like you took our comments seriously. You made good progress in that video but the next areas will be a good example of why DS2 is what it is for the community (ups and downs). Keep doing that excellent work as always and I am looking forward to the next one!!!
Merchants in this game are very useful, and after a while, depending on how much you spent on them or how long you progressed in the game, some of them will have more stuff to sell, so always check them out! The champions covenant was holding you back for real lol now you are doing very good in this game! I should say almost better than DS1 lol Keep it going!
When you get to the dragon, if it is lying down you can sprint up to it and avoid the fire breath attack. and then it is just avoid standing to much underneath it as it will fly up and breath fire down xD and push you over the edge. Great episode as always :D
Late comment, but you are unlikely to find this out for yourself. When an invader (human or NPC) kills you in an area with a "frozen" Giant Tree, the tree will spawn in a "Seed." This is a consumable item that can be used when you are invaded. It turns regular enemies that normally ignore invaders hostile to them. This can give you a significant leg up in a tough battle. The Armorer Dennis fight is supposed to teach you this as it an overly strong invader in a starter zone. However, there was a message that covered up the option to pick up the item. Lesson going forward, USE THE TOGGLE FUNCTION EVERY TIME YOU SEE IT. You never know what essential item you may miss. Also, pay attention to the scenery/architecture as you are exploring. There are a lot of references, hints, and story building done through background objects. More so in DS2 than other Soulsborne titles.
The bastard sword is not that bad; it has stagger potential. However, I would recommend trying something with a blunt type of damage. I think Blacksmith is selling one. It's super useful against anything armored or skeletons. Actually, I would recommend even having a couple of different weapons prepared, you never know what might be useful, or just to be ready when the main weapon breaks. I might say that the game is the most enjoyable when you come to it with the mind of a skilled warrior, something like, using the ring and consumables that decrease magic damage in magic spamming location, or seeing the black explosive barrels near the enemy really asks for fire arrow, or just having a sword that has a super wide range for spam of weak enemies.
Well, somebody's not being doing their job too well...😂 Maybe the Dragonrider just parked it there because he knew the Old Dragonslayer chose the wrong profession 😜
1:22:50 I don't think this is what we meant with you needing a ranged weapon xD The wyrm was sleeping and takes quite a while to wake up so the easiest way to deal with it is to just run at it for a melee fight. Thought I'd share some more game mechanics, too :D Carry weight influences your rolling and stamina regen- The more you weigh the shorter your role gets. Duo wielding: Try putting the broken straight sword in each hand, then press and hold Y. Now try a left handed attack. You can do that with any weapons, but the game never tells you about it. Oh and I know everyone is saying this, but torches are genuinely really neat!
Worth to mention that for power stance (hold Y), you need 1.5x the required stats for Str and Dex, and the highest values from both weapons apply to the requirements.
A couple notes about summoning: You can only see summon signs while you're human. A good strategy is to use the ring of binding as you're exploring so you can save your effigies until right before the boss. The boss will gain 50% of its base HP for every summon you bring. In some cases this might make NPC summons more of a liability so I wouldn't listen to people who call it a cheap tactic to make the game easier, especially when you're doing it to discover more content.
To clarify it's *technically* not an HP increase but a damage reduction, but it's effectively the same amount of required damage if you run the numbers.
Remember to try the long sword’s two hand strong attack. It’s a pretty decent poke. Nice job on Pursuer. Rolling forward and to the right is the secret. You started hesitating a bit at the end but I appreciate you were playing carefully rather than getting greedy.
@@Wuggernaut go back to where you defeated Armorer Dennis and grab the seed from the tree of giants. That item, when consumed, for a limited time will make it so that mobs will also target invaders. This is very useful for when you are getting invaded and the invader tries to hide behind mobs. Also, you need to play more aggressively. This isn’t an overnight thing but something to work on. A lot of people don’t take this advice but it’s soooo useful. Keep the whip handy. You will find poison pots, acid pots, and other destructible objects, and the whip is a very useful tool for breaking them at a safe distance.
Those white Hiede Tower Knights are no joke; it's been awhile since I played, but I think using a Rapier, like the Estoc, works really well against them. Even an unleveled one. Also, if you kill enemies enough times, they will stop spawning-unless your in the Champions convent.
Heide Knights have this weird combination of delayed attacks and sudden bursts of speed. It reminds me of steel springs storing energy during windup, and uncoiling in an instant. You will be seeing similar traits in other foes later in the game.
The bastard sword is actually very good and one of my favorite early game weapons. The problem I see, you don’t know how to use it. In these games, before you should concern yourself about what an enemy can do, you need to know what you can do. Know yourself and your weapon. Understanding the moveset and timing, can go a very long way. At some moment, and this can be off camera, take the bastard sword to a place with easy enemies and just practice using it. Next time you have to face off against tough enemies you will be feeling a lot better.
New Wuggs video hype! This series is awesome so far. I know it's gonna be a while, but I can't wait for you to play DS3. It's my favorite of the trilogy.
In Dark Souls 2 more bosses can be parried including the pursuer. Most of them are not worth parrying, but the pursuer gets stunned for around 3 seconds. During that time, you can run to the ballista and kill him. Pursuers are sub-bosses NG+ has slightly more of them. DS 2 NG+ actually chnages the most things among the soul series. Bonefire Aesthetic can be used to perma upgrade that bonfire area into the next NG+cycles. The stamina shield is much weaker in DS2 and might not even break even for its weight cost, affecting stamina regen much more than in other souls. If you do not use the shield, you could two-hand your weapon, as it will stagger bosses more often. If you/enemy are in water, rain,wet etc.+300 fire defence and minimum 150 lighting defence. Elemental defence is % reduction while phys defence is a flat reduction and becomes much weaker past mid game.
Bastard sword is a great allround sword.I have used it the entire playthrough sometimes. Sure some greatswords have more damage and reach, but its very versitile
The best early weapon is the rapier u can buy from the blacksmith, it’s very quick with good ranged thrust attacks and pretty good damage to melt them all, it can carry you all the way to the end very easily ( in the very first area with the old ladies, there is a secret little passage for 1 hidden ogre, kill him and get a ring which gives more posture damage when you’re attacking, wear it and the rapier will become godlike, staggering them all with quick attacks)
I don’t think I have a favorite DS anymore…. I love the atmosphere of DS1, the world of DS2, and the bosses of DS3…. I guess elden ring is y favorite because there’s soooo much you can do, and so much build variety
Wow! You absolutely rocked the Pursuer! Great job! The Pursuer is easily my favorite of all the base game bosses. To be totally honest, most of the bosses in DS2 kinda suck compared to those in DS1, which I why ultimately I cannot rate this game as highly as the first. Luckily the DLC bosses are quite interesting and challenging to fight, which helps make up for the lackluster base game bosses.
Another little tip in general: optimize your ring-loadout regularly (that Way of the Blue ring is quite useless, unless you play online😉). When hollow it's mostly a great idea to have the Ring of Binding equipped (at least it made my life a lot easier and was one of the most important rings in any playthrough). Also, as you learned, having a bow (in any Souls game) is always a good little insurance for those enemies that give you a hard time, because you can kite or destroy them from a distance; sure, some "git-gudders" think it's cheesy, but I think having fun (and not torturing yourself too much) is more important than being "gud". 😊 And a little feedback regarding the changes you made to your videos or the good stuff you keep doing: I really love the "endings" with the quote of the day etc.; definitely keep it as a standard in the future 😉 Also, as I said before, what really makes your videos shine is your personality - while some other streamers rely heavily on memes, rants or being unnecessarily goofy, you manage to create awesome content just by being yourself. Never change. 🤘😎
In Dark Souls Remastered, you could kick by tapping forward on the left analog stick and tapping light attack at the same time. Doing the same thing in Dark Souls II will do a special shield breaking move with your arm.
You have to understand that weapons that have split weapon damage like the fire longsword has overall more damage because both damage types have to go through enemy defences. Their numbers appear higher in the stats but usually split weapons deal less damage than weapons with only 1 type of damage. Unless you focus your build on magic.
33:55 note that you can collect (and then later consume) this giant's seed by interacting with the big bulge on the right there. (\*tries to look innocent*)
Never thought I'd see the day where Wuggs cheeses an entire miniboss with a bow and arrow . That dragon's not bad at all to fight straight up, but I respect the patience to do it with arrows. It was payback for the one in Undead Parish who killed you so many times on the bridge. Also, Heide is pronunced "hade" as in made. Not much point in correcting it now that you've finished the area, but figured it was worth pointing out! The crestfallen warrior in Majula pronounced it for you last episode.
No, it's not. It's pronounced Hide. It's Germanic, meaning the second vowel is what is pronounced. The Crestfallen warrior just has a non-rhotic accent.
I wonder if Wuggs will look into Sorcery, Pyromancy, or Miracles. They have a lot of utility such as healing, buffing, or reduce fall damage to make some drops survivable
One more hag related hint from me: The room you first encountered her, go upstairs and there is one more door. (told you to exhaust her dialogue and about the unlimited life gems)((with another account))
"But i would wait 500 hours, and-a i would wait 500 more. Just to be the man who waits a thousand hours, just to watch some more. Da-da da da (Da-da da da) Da-da da da (Da-da da da)
I haven't played DS2 since it came out.. like back in 2014 or 2015. I beat it three times, the DLC once (never found that dreaded blizzard place, thank goodness), and once with no-death and no-bonfires. This game looks very different than what I remember. That drake outside the cathedral didn't exist back then, and neither did all those aggressive Heide knights (those guys were spread around multiple areas of the game and were non-hostile unless attacked). It seems Scholar has taken the original DS2 "Let's throw a shit-ton of enemies at the player to make it haaaard" philosophy and cranked it way past 11.
If you want to be a Bonk Boi, you should embrace the slow attack speed... for now. But it is not to late to got dex again, if you are to afraid. Also 105 is a better goal for agility, bearer of the curse. He, He, He…
Fun Fact - do you know wuggs, you can almost insta kill pursuer if you use the giant crossbows on him Tip - I recommend never taking off covetous silver serpent ring, also finding armors that can boost souls gains, you can never have enough souls
Some of the boss run backs in this game are nightmare fuel, it can be beneficial to just sprint past everyone and rush straight for the boss. And sometimes it’s better to stop and kill each enemy on the way. Don’t give up skeleton
The one thing that separates the men from the boys is lifetime usage. Since it heals slowly over time, men use it at full before they enter a fight to have passive healing during a fight so you can stay aggressive
The Pursuer was originally intended to be a constantly recurring enemy that would hunt the player down throughout the game similar to Nemesis in Resident Evil 3 but the development team couldn’t figure out how to implement the feature with the games limited engine
@@WuggernautThere are I think seven different encounters with him in SotFS. My first time playing this was the vanilla. It's an entirely different game with the SotFS enemy placements. Like in the vanilla Heide's Tower of Flame, there is no dragon. The knights that just sit there don't exist.
Heide knights are hardcore... they make the big guys look like chumps! Personally, I like using the halberd on them. That ring of binding is incredibly useful, BTW.
You can two-hand the weapon in your left hand if you long-press the [Y] button instead of tapping it. This is the same thing you do to power-stance (dual wield two weapons). But leave that for later.
I will tell you not even I know how to properly fight those Heide Knights, the only thing that has consistently worked for me is a giant hammer which has an attack that flattens then to the ground where they can't attack and I just keep them there until they die, any other statregy just ends with me killed with their fast attacks and insanely fast retaliation after being hit, even back stabbing them can be bad sometimes because they have a fast attack to stop that as well.
I also had massive problems during the early stages of my first playthroughs. Eventually I got the hang of it. Last month I finished the game again, this time as a sorcerer - made them (and everybody else😂) a total walk in the park 🙈 I even destroyed most bosses first try (except for one of two); that was something I had never done in any Souls game 😅
I did not expect this episode’s cameo!!
Death by gravity : 7
Death by enemies : 27
Death by traps : 1
Dennis : 9
Dragon rider : 2
The pursuer : 1
Old Dragon Slayer: 1
best death award : 1:03:20
@@Wuggernaut
Best part of this Video is to see how much you have improved! Cant wait to see you explore the rest of this Game
Thank you dude! Me neither :)!
45:50 that's Elizabeth the mushroom from the dlc of dark souls 1, you meet her right after defeating sanctuary guardian.
Ohhhh damn!!
You're getting too good at this game. I wanted to see pain and suffering.
10/10
Hahah I think the areas are gonna cause the most suffering in this game 😅
@@Wuggernaut Don't get cocky. The difficulty level spikes in a little bit. And then again after that. And again with every dlc.
Maybe do get cocky so we can see you get frustrated after being demolished over and over again.
Multiple people have already let you know but merchant hag malentia sells unlimited lifegems. When I’m playing ds2 I pretty much dump all my leftover souls after leveling and upgrading into buying lifegems. They are so useful and you can hold a ton of them you should use them more often when you’re out exploring and don’t want to waste precious estus between enemies
Ps love the playthrough, it’s so nice to see someone experience souls for the first time. Ds2 isn’t perfect but the atmosphere is my favorite of all the games. Hope you enjoy and most importantly, don’t go hollow friend 💕
I think I’ll be diving into these for sure, also tysm! I completely agree so far, first entering Majula was breathtaking
I second this. Always a good idea to spend your leftover souls in the shops when you're in Majula anyway
Cheesing the firedrake next to the cathedral is a longstanding DS2 tradition! Welcome to the club! I do recommend maintaining (ie upgrading) a bow, even if it's just a basic shortbow or light crossbow... it's a very useful thing to have on you.
If anything the firedrake proved it! Consider it done 🫡
@@Wuggernaut Seeing you completely disregard every bow in DS1 was painful. You really have no idea how useful they are.
The first time I played DS2 I cheesed him. Then I watched a walk-through and saw how easy it is to just run up and fight him. That's what I do now.
@@MontgomeryWenis To be fair, they are much better in DS2... I still recommend a bow for DS1 players, but just goes to show you can ultimately do without it, if you are determined not to use it.
@@BalbazaktheGreatBows are not nearly as necessary in DS1, in DS2 they are a complete lifesaver! Especially in a certain area, that I won't name...
Good job, enjoying your playthrough, can't wait to see your reactions to some areas. The heide knights are annoying with their weird jerking attacks, good job with the spear one. You can kill the dragon by just running past the flames and fighting it but using a bow is easier, even if it's tedious. The watchdragon parma is ok as a shield but what's it's actually useful for is, it increases your item discovery, so enemies are more likely to drop stuff while its equipped.
Ohhhh understood, Ty 🙏 and I’m really glad you’re enjoying it!
yeah!! my favorite. Started to watch you recently. I am big fan of DS2, it is my favorite, I love to see how other people play it. I also did play other souls game, but DS2 was my first one, thus I cannot stop loving it the most
I could definitely see why the first of the series would stay as the fav. Having played in order so far, I’m loving it so far!
Congrats! 3 Bosses in one episode: The Pursuer, some dude cosplaying Ornstein and, the hardest one, Denis!
Woohoo!!
The Bastard Sword is actually quite a good sword, even if it's the most basic of all the "greatswords." Over time, the scaling will reward you, though with lower stats (or more int/faith) the fire longsword will be more efficient. Feel free to upgrade either, or both as you see fit - you can afford a few interim weapons, even if titianite is initially limited. You can also always imbue the bastard sword with fire if you really want to... that is reversible, so even if it isn't the best long term plan you aren't locked in.
Remember that weapon scaling will make weapons that seem weak now be incredibly strong after getting more of the scaling stat.
True thank you!
Great episode and excelently played, especially with the turtle knight gang. Dragon can be reached just by running to it before it wakes up.
Also a tip for next and future episodes, start using the torch for dark areas and it's useful in other situations. Sconces in areas you lite stay lit and are a source to re-light your own.
Can't wait for more, these episodes seem too short.
I appreciate that dude 🙏 and I’ll keep the torches in mind!
Hi Wuggs! The pursuer fight was professionally done, but let's face it, Dennis was the real menace.
Two-handing increases your strength by 50%, so for something that requires 20 strength to wield, you only need 14 strength to use two-handed! So you could already wield that bastard sword when you got it! The message was only because you equip weapons to one hand automatically.
Also, ds2 has some of the best fashion souls in the series, so try out all the armour sets!
Ooooh good to know! Thank you 🙏
@@Wuggernaut Small bit of clarification, in Dark Souls 2, two-handing doubles your strength when checking required stats, but not when checking for attack scaling.
Glad you listened and checked the area again, imagine not fighting the Pursuer!
Unacceptable! Thanks for the nudge 😄
After all the worthy adversaries we've seen so far (orenstein and smough, silver knight archers, capra demon, blighttown, etc..) who knew that wuggs mortal enemy would turn out to be Hacker Dennis
Top episode as always wuggs! Certain NPCs may only talk to you when certain stats are high enough, and there's often a slight clue in what they say when they reject you initially :) lets just say that
Appreciate all the hard work as always dude
Thank you dude! And hmmm, I’ll keep this in mind 🤔
Wuggs: marvels at how many souls he has multiple times
Also Wuggs: not wearing Silver Serpent ring
I literally spent half this episode yelling at my screen lol
You can just lit those fire stick in those dark area using torch to bright the place.
I Wonder why no one Give tip adout damage type :
1 strike - use against armored enemy like knights in heide
2 pierce- medium armored ones/ trick hide/ scales
3 slash- light armored/ no visible armor
You can see what kind of damage type wepon deal in description, and it makes dealing with enemies easier .
Anyway im enjoing your adventure, good lick in this underrated gem of souls series :)
Loving it so far. Non spoiler tip? Anywhere sorta dark, use your torch! The lighting is lovely in this game.
Genuinely no better feeling than waking up to a Wugg’s upload 😮💨 it’s like crack
LOL damn dude thank you so much 😅🙏
I'm glad you found the Ring of Binding. It was my favorite ring because I hated the hp decay on death.
just so you know , the flame long sword is a normal long sword that has been infused with fire , you will be able to do that to most weapons
👀👀👀 oh damn!
Yeah DS2 has the most lenient infusion system. You can literally infuse anything lol.
And then darksouls 3 was like nah infusing weapons is too much fun lets make it so more than half the weapons cant be infused lol@@sirfijoe450
@@sirfijoe450I love it too! I think DS2 is the only souls game that I actually use infusions...
F*cking great episode this week Wuggs! You had me rolling with laughter for all the right reasons. I'm lovin the new transition during lore descriptions as well. It's pretty slick.
Hey, remember when I told you to invest in a backup weapon? Now you have one! Look on the bright side in this circumstance. I know you expected that bastard sword to be much better than what you have, but you still have ALOT of game left to find your main. It's out there dawg. Don't be too bothered by "wasting" upgrade materials. You'll get plenty more. Embrace variety for now.... And learn how to use a torch ffs. There are secrets involved, and you'll be able to see for once.
You're killin it my dude. I'm having a great time, and I hope you are too. Looking forward to next week.
I’m having a blast! And that’s true, and a good silver lining 🙏
Embossing is metal engraving, essentially.
Don’t forget… you can use the bow to draw out enemies one at a time…. Also if you run through the fire and get beneath the dragon, it’s not a hard fight
Man Heide's tower is truly miserable after you kill the boss (the flashbacks... 🥲) You played it a lot better than me tho, so kudos to you.
Also, I'm so glad you left the covenant of champions. You're clearly enjoying the game and that covenant could've changed that pretty fast on a first playthrough.
Ahhh understood, then me too!
Just a tip, the guy that wouldn't talk to you in the cathedral is a different covenant than the one with the man in Majula...One protects you by summoning a blue when you get invaded and the other lets be the blue that gets summoned to help other people...
If you put down your own summon sign to assist someone else in their world, upon completing the mission, your estus, weapon durabilities, and health will be restored. It’s like resting at a bonfire, but without respawning the enemies.
If you use the small white soapstone, you can be summoned into a world for a limited duration, and aren’t committed to remaining summoned until the area boss is defeated. As long as you don’t die, when you return to your world, the aforementioned stuff will be restored and you will be rewarded with a smooth and silky stone, to fuel your gambling addiction with the crow’s nest.
When playing, I use the small white soapstone all the time to keep myself in good shape. Is this a little cheesy? Probably, but it’s an intended game mechanic.
The watch dragon parma increases item discovery. Use it if you need to farm.
I've only seen this hinted at in one comment but the reason the Bastard Sword disappointed was directly due to the enemies you were attacking. Heavily armoured dudes, such the ones in Heide's Tower, are pretty resistant to the Slash damage it does.
It scales very well with Str, Dex and upgrades and can hold its own for most of the game. Although I do think it's just a slightly worse Claymore as it lacks a decent Thrust attack. Slaymore forever! (if you don't lose your head you will find one)
If you had a mace or club you would have been shocked by how easily the Heide enemies go down, turtle knights too just get splatted by Strike Damage. As you noticed though they do take a decent chunk of damage from Fire attacks.
Well done at getting through post Dragonrider Heide's Tower though, I always find that one of the hardest parts of a playthrough if I am being stubborn and stick to a Slash damage build. Don't worry too much about the Blue knight dude, he is a pvp covenant vendor and you need to engage with the cracked blue orbs or white summon soapstone and succeed at aiding another player to talk to him.
(you can also find an item hidden much later to talk to him but this won't add anything important to your playthrough and he is mostly there for the PVP covenant)
I am currently replaying this along side you! Hope you enjoy.
Nice! So far I really am
Drummond's Drangleic Armor is some of the most impressive looking armor in the kingdom... it's also some of the heaviest, but the protection it offers is incredible. You'll need to raise your vitality if you want to improve your equip load (there are also rings that can help). Also, don't forget to upgrade your armor once you find a set you really like - many Dark Souls players ignore armor upgrades, but it actually makes a huge difference (it's just a waste to heavily improve armor if you are going to switch armor sets all the time).
Ahhh yes good point! If the Drangleic set is good then I definitely see myself keeping it, so I’mma upgrade it
@@Wuggernaut The catch is that it requires twinkling titanite, which is limited - some of the most interesting armors and weapons demand it, so you have to pick and choose. (Of course, you can always farm it with bonfire ascetics, though, if you don't mind grinding).
Let’s goooo💯 wugs you really are the goat man. I look forward to these videos so much.
I’m so glad dude! I’ll keep em coming!
In DS1, when you swing a weapon around and you don't meet the stat requirements for it, it's a slow and clumsy attack. DS2 is different because you can still swing weapons around normally even if you don't meet the stat requirements but you'll do less damage. Tip: Even if you don't meet the stat requirements for it, Equip a weapon you want to use and test out how each attack works with that weapon. This is a good way to get comfortable with a weapon before getting into actual combat and also a titanite saver if you end up not liking a weapon that your testing out.
59:26 It's not that bad. The fire longsword does split damage which means the damage needs to go through both fire and physical defense, so the total damage number is a bit inflated compared to a pure physical weapon.
I just commented the same thing and then scrolled down and saw this xd
Great video 🙈 personally, the Bastard sword was my loyal companion throughout literally all the game. I remember I infused them with magic, fire and lightning 😂
Btw, you should check the entrance to Majula again since there's a place where you can fall down... 🤐
Greetings from Argentina 🇦🇷
27:45 "it's just a big circle" pretty much encapsulates Dark Souls as a series. Less so in 2 & 3 but within the different areas to a large degree.
56:30 Split damage weapons have each defense reduced separetely by the enemies' defenses. The bastard sword is actually significantly better than the fire sword.
Nice part :) Indeed, the Old Dragonslayer is weaker than Ornstein (and honestly, I think that bringing him into the game is more fanservice than anything). But also - the Old Dragonslayer could be the first boss you encounter. Or the fourth (like for you).
Here are some things I wanted to mention:
1. The Key for the Door next to the Last Giant is not in that area. You will find it and you will know from the Item Description that you found it. But you are not missing something right now.
2. I dont know if you have noticed it yet, but Endurance does not grant Equip Load. This is a separate stat, VIT (Vitality). Vigor is what levels up HP (VGR), but Vitality raises Equip Load. So if you need more, you can increase it. (Which will most likely happen, Strength-Weapons tend to be heavy)
3. You can try out weapons even if you dont meet the Stats. They cannot be used in the Battle, but you can see the Moveset. E.g. you can try out the Drangleic Sword and see if you like the Moveset, before you put Points into Dex for example to wield it.
4. Regarding the Covenant at the Cathedral of the Blue - this is a different one than the one in Majula. I wont say how you can join it (since you said it), but I thought I just mention that those are two covenants and not one.
I really appreciate all these tips 🙏 seriously you are always so good with giving helpful pointers without spoiling anything, thank you :)
@@Wuggernaut Thank you very much for the kind words :) I really like your playthroughs of Dark Souls, it is my favorite series and I love to watch people play it for the first time (my favorite moment is always when they discover the connections to Firelink Shrine in DS1 :D ), but your playthroughs are my favorites so far :)
So I like to help out where I can :)
Great Video again Wuggs with some very interesting actions and reactions
I am so happy that you remembered not to go into new areas blindly 16:57 I really felt like you took our comments seriously.
You made good progress in that video but the next areas will be a good example of why DS2 is what it is for the community (ups and downs).
Keep doing that excellent work as always and I am looking forward to the next one!!!
Thanks pana! I’m ready for the next challenge 😤
Merchants in this game are very useful, and after a while, depending on how much you spent on them or how long you progressed in the game, some of them will have more stuff to sell, so always check them out!
The champions covenant was holding you back for real lol now you are doing very good in this game! I should say almost better than DS1 lol
Keep it going!
When you get to the dragon, if it is lying down you can sprint up to it and avoid the fire breath attack. and then it is just avoid standing to much underneath it as it will fly up and breath fire down xD and push you over the edge.
Great episode as always :D
Damn I shoulda tried that out 😅. And ty!
Late comment, but you are unlikely to find this out for yourself. When an invader (human or NPC) kills you in an area with a "frozen" Giant Tree, the tree will spawn in a "Seed." This is a consumable item that can be used when you are invaded. It turns regular enemies that normally ignore invaders hostile to them. This can give you a significant leg up in a tough battle. The Armorer Dennis fight is supposed to teach you this as it an overly strong invader in a starter zone. However, there was a message that covered up the option to pick up the item. Lesson going forward, USE THE TOGGLE FUNCTION EVERY TIME YOU SEE IT. You never know what essential item you may miss. Also, pay attention to the scenery/architecture as you are exploring. There are a lot of references, hints, and story building done through background objects. More so in DS2 than other Soulsborne titles.
The bastard sword is not that bad; it has stagger potential. However, I would recommend trying something with a blunt type of damage. I think Blacksmith is selling one. It's super useful against anything armored or skeletons. Actually, I would recommend even having a couple of different weapons prepared, you never know what might be useful, or just to be ready when the main weapon breaks.
I might say that the game is the most enjoyable when you come to it with the mind of a skilled warrior, something like, using the ring and consumables that decrease magic damage in magic spamming location, or seeing the black explosive barrels near the enemy really asks for fire arrow, or just having a sword that has a super wide range for spam of weak enemies.
IIRC two-handing weapons in DS2 effectively doubles your STR for stat requirement purposes. (It was x1.5 in DS1)
youre getting better and better! awesome how you killed the pursuer🎉
And jups, there is a way to kill the dragon mele hehe😉
Dragonrider: does not ride dragon
Old dragonslayer: has a pet dragon on his front porch
Well, somebody's not being doing their job too well...😂 Maybe the Dragonrider just parked it there because he knew the Old Dragonslayer chose the wrong profession 😜
Thanks for all the hard work you put into editing these vids, Wuggs. I'll come back and watch later.
Thank you 🔥DENNIS🔥 appreciate it dude 🙏
@Wuggernaut you got it riiiiiiiight! 😂
1:22:50 I don't think this is what we meant with you needing a ranged weapon xD
The wyrm was sleeping and takes quite a while to wake up so the easiest way to deal with it is to just run at it for a melee fight.
Thought I'd share some more game mechanics, too :D
Carry weight influences your rolling and stamina regen- The more you weigh the shorter your role gets.
Duo wielding: Try putting the broken straight sword in each hand, then press and hold Y. Now try a left handed attack. You can do that with any weapons, but the game never tells you about it.
Oh and I know everyone is saying this, but torches are genuinely really neat!
Thanks for these tips! I’ll try my best to get my swiss cheese brain to remember this 🙏
Worth to mention that for power stance (hold Y), you need 1.5x the required stats for Str and Dex, and the highest values from both weapons apply to the requirements.
A couple notes about summoning:
You can only see summon signs while you're human. A good strategy is to use the ring of binding as you're exploring so you can save your effigies until right before the boss.
The boss will gain 50% of its base HP for every summon you bring. In some cases this might make NPC summons more of a liability so I wouldn't listen to people who call it a cheap tactic to make the game easier, especially when you're doing it to discover more content.
To clarify it's *technically* not an HP increase but a damage reduction, but it's effectively the same amount of required damage if you run the numbers.
Understood 🫡
Remember to try the long sword’s two hand strong attack. It’s a pretty decent poke. Nice job on Pursuer. Rolling forward and to the right is the secret. You started hesitating a bit at the end but I appreciate you were playing carefully rather than getting greedy.
Thank you dude, and I’ll keep that in mind!
@@Wuggernaut go back to where you defeated Armorer Dennis and grab the seed from the tree of giants. That item, when consumed, for a limited time will make it so that mobs will also target invaders. This is very useful for when you are getting invaded and the invader tries to hide behind mobs. Also, you need to play more aggressively. This isn’t an overnight thing but something to work on.
A lot of people don’t take this advice but it’s soooo useful. Keep the whip handy. You will find poison pots, acid pots, and other destructible objects, and the whip is a very useful tool for breaking them at a safe distance.
@ oooh gotcha!
Came to say this about the long sword. Pierce and blunt damage are almost always better than slash
Those white Hiede Tower Knights are no joke; it's been awhile since I played, but I think using a Rapier, like the Estoc, works really well against them. Even an unleveled one. Also, if you kill enemies enough times, they will stop spawning-unless your in the Champions convent.
Heide Knights have this weird combination of delayed attacks and sudden bursts of speed. It reminds me of steel springs storing energy during windup, and uncoiling in an instant. You will be seeing similar traits in other foes later in the game.
The bastard sword is actually very good and one of my favorite early game weapons. The problem I see, you don’t know how to use it. In these games, before you should concern yourself about what an enemy can do, you need to know what you can do. Know yourself and your weapon. Understanding the moveset and timing, can go a very long way. At some moment, and this can be off camera, take the bastard sword to a place with easy enemies and just practice using it. Next time you have to face off against tough enemies you will be feeling a lot better.
I hear you there, I may put in a bit of practice 🙏
New Wuggs video hype!
This series is awesome so far. I know it's gonna be a while, but I can't wait for you to play DS3. It's my favorite of the trilogy.
@@byteheist me too I’m super excited! I’ve heard lots of good things about its bosses 👀
In Dark Souls 2 more bosses can be parried including the pursuer.
Most of them are not worth parrying, but the pursuer gets stunned for around 3 seconds. During that time, you can run to the ballista and kill him.
Pursuers are sub-bosses NG+ has slightly more of them.
DS 2 NG+ actually chnages the most things among the soul series.
Bonefire Aesthetic can be used to perma upgrade that bonfire area into the next NG+cycles.
The stamina shield is much weaker in DS2 and might not even break even for its weight cost, affecting stamina regen much more than in other souls.
If you do not use the shield, you could two-hand your weapon, as it will stagger bosses more often.
If you/enemy are in water, rain,wet etc.+300 fire defence and minimum 150 lighting defence.
Elemental defence is % reduction while phys defence is a flat reduction and becomes much weaker past mid game.
Thank you for this!!
Bastard sword is a great allround sword.I have used it the entire playthrough sometimes. Sure some greatswords have more damage and reach, but its very versitile
The best early weapon is the rapier u can buy from the blacksmith, it’s very quick with good ranged thrust attacks and pretty good damage to melt them all, it can carry you all the way to the end very easily ( in the very first area with the old ladies, there is a secret little passage for 1 hidden ogre, kill him and get a ring which gives more posture damage when you’re attacking, wear it and the rapier will become godlike, staggering them all with quick attacks)
I just hope we bump into another dragon so we can experience such beautiful singing again...
I don’t think I have a favorite DS anymore…. I love the atmosphere of DS1, the world of DS2, and the bosses of DS3…. I guess elden ring is y favorite because there’s soooo much you can do, and so much build variety
Wow! You absolutely rocked the Pursuer! Great job!
The Pursuer is easily my favorite of all the base game bosses. To be totally honest, most of the bosses in DS2 kinda suck compared to those in DS1, which I why ultimately I cannot rate this game as highly as the first. Luckily the DLC bosses are quite interesting and challenging to fight, which helps make up for the lackluster base game bosses.
That’s good to know! For now I’ll enjoy the story and world of the base game :)
@@Wuggernaut It's still a great game, so please do enjoy! Just know that you have some top tier bosses to look forward to.
The Watchdragon Parma Shield increases your discovery i.e your item drops.
Another little tip in general: optimize your ring-loadout regularly (that Way of the Blue ring is quite useless, unless you play online😉).
When hollow it's mostly a great idea to have the Ring of Binding equipped (at least it made my life a lot easier and was one of the most important rings in any playthrough).
Also, as you learned, having a bow (in any Souls game) is always a good little insurance for those enemies that give you a hard time, because you can kite or destroy them from a distance; sure, some "git-gudders" think it's cheesy, but I think having fun (and not torturing yourself too much) is more important than being "gud". 😊
And a little feedback regarding the changes you made to your videos or the good stuff you keep doing:
I really love the "endings" with the quote of the day etc.; definitely keep it as a standard in the future 😉
Also, as I said before, what really makes your videos shine is your personality - while some other streamers rely heavily on memes, rants or being unnecessarily goofy, you manage to create awesome content just by being yourself. Never change. 🤘😎
that random quagmire 😂
Threw me for a loop 😂
Little Hat Wuggs Returns! ❤
Hahah yes!!
nice job on the pursuer. took me like an hour my first time.
In Dark Souls Remastered, you could kick by tapping forward on the left analog stick and tapping light attack at the same time. Doing the same thing in Dark Souls II will do a special shield breaking move with your arm.
You have to understand that weapons that have split weapon damage like the fire longsword has overall more damage because both damage types have to go through enemy defences. Their numbers appear higher in the stats but usually split weapons deal less damage than weapons with only 1 type of damage. Unless you focus your build on magic.
Ok the editing at 1:05:47! “This is easier. I must admit.” WHAM!!! If that’s not a feeling we’ve all shared in Dark Souls then I don’t know what is.
😅😅
It's a good idea to keep stopping by and spending some souls with early game merchants.
Gotcha, Ty!
“You can do a lot of levels!” Yeah, DS2 is very generous with boss souls and how the LV caps work. So don’t be afraid to eventually reach 20 ADP! 😂
Sounds good 😅
Pursuer made a big mistake pursuing Wuggy
😤😤😤
W vid.
Keep up the good work.
Appreciate it!
33:55 note that you can collect (and then later consume) this giant's seed by interacting with the big bulge on the right there. (\*tries to look innocent*)
🤣🤣🤣, thank you for the tip 🙏🙏
@@WuggernautThey are very very useful if you get invaded. 👀
The opposite of patience does the dragon. 👇🤔🤣 Learn your torches to 😅
I can't wait until he finds the infinite animal rocket launcher😊
👀👀👀
Weapon durability is a significant factor in Dark Souls II in a way it never was in Dark Souls Remastered.
I never got the chance to play DS2 but I'm rooting for ya!
39:40 That face.
Never thought I'd see the day where Wuggs cheeses an entire miniboss with a bow and arrow . That dragon's not bad at all to fight straight up, but I respect the patience to do it with arrows. It was payback for the one in Undead Parish who killed you so many times on the bridge.
Also, Heide is pronunced "hade" as in made. Not much point in correcting it now that you've finished the area, but figured it was worth pointing out! The crestfallen warrior in Majula pronounced it for you last episode.
Hahah fear got the best of me this episode 😅
No, it's not. It's pronounced Hide. It's Germanic, meaning the second vowel is what is pronounced. The Crestfallen warrior just has a non-rhotic accent.
I wonder if Wuggs will look into Sorcery, Pyromancy, or Miracles. They have a lot of utility such as healing, buffing, or reduce fall damage to make some drops survivable
👀👀
One more hag related hint from me: The room you first encountered her, go upstairs and there is one more door. (told you to exhaust her dialogue and about the unlimited life gems)((with another account))
"But i would wait 500 hours, and-a i would wait 500 more. Just to be the man who waits a thousand hours, just to watch some more. Da-da da da (Da-da da da) Da-da da da (Da-da da da)
I haven't played DS2 since it came out.. like back in 2014 or 2015. I beat it three times, the DLC once (never found that dreaded blizzard place, thank goodness), and once with no-death and no-bonfires. This game looks very different than what I remember. That drake outside the cathedral didn't exist back then, and neither did all those aggressive Heide knights (those guys were spread around multiple areas of the game and were non-hostile unless attacked). It seems Scholar has taken the original DS2 "Let's throw a shit-ton of enemies at the player to make it haaaard" philosophy and cranked it way past 11.
If you want to be a Bonk Boi, you should embrace the slow attack speed... for now. But it is not to late to got dex again, if you are to afraid.
Also 105 is a better goal for agility, bearer of the curse.
He, He, He…
What did you call me 👀👀 LOL I’m sure I’ll know what this means soon enough 😅
i am laughing so hard at 32:43 😂
Hahah, I had to, that fly through the air was so wild 🤣
Fun Fact - do you know wuggs, you can almost insta kill pursuer if you use the giant crossbows on him
Tip - I recommend never taking off covetous silver serpent ring, also finding armors that can boost souls gains, you can never have enough souls
Fair enough, appreciate that 🙏🙏🙏
This is why I always kill the dragon before dragonrider...The Heide Knights are brutal early in the game...
bacon egg sandwich is a win.
lovely stuff, wugs
🙏🙏
Only 8 deaths in a couple hours. Sing along with me. Queen. We are the champions. We are the champions..Of the world.
Some of the boss run backs in this game are nightmare fuel, it can be beneficial to just sprint past everyone and rush straight for the boss. And sometimes it’s better to stop and kill each enemy on the way. Don’t give up skeleton
My favorite thing about the persuer is killing his with the balista in his boss room
I wish I tried out the ballista!
The one thing that separates the men from the boys is lifetime usage. Since it heals slowly over time, men use it at full before they enter a fight to have passive healing during a fight so you can stay aggressive
Fragrant branches of yore are indeed one time use and I don’t think they can be farmed.
@SoupWizard776 ooooo good tip ty
The Pursuer was originally intended to be a constantly recurring enemy that would hunt the player down throughout the game similar to Nemesis in Resident Evil 3 but the development team couldn’t figure out how to implement the feature with the games limited engine
Ahhhh that explains the first encounter with him. That’s a shame that would have been pretty cool
Pursuer in vanilla DS2 is different than SotFS
@@WuggernautThere are I think seven different encounters with him in SotFS.
My first time playing this was the vanilla. It's an entirely different game with the SotFS enemy placements. Like in the vanilla Heide's Tower of Flame, there is no dragon. The knights that just sit there don't exist.
@@MontgomeryWenis you should delete this, he won't be expecting him to show up again...lol
@@MontgomeryWenis Spoiler much ?
Heide knights are hardcore... they make the big guys look like chumps! Personally, I like using the halberd on them. That ring of binding is incredibly useful, BTW.
Little ‘spoiler’ for a quest the game doesn’t tell you about: Once you reach 100 deaths, speak to someone in Majula to get a VERY helpful item 👀
Also parrying and bows (especially poison arrows) will be your best friend, so I’d definitely recommend these later in the game
Damn no pursuer theme... That ost is sickkkk
I think I have to up the music volume 😩
You can two-hand the weapon in your left hand if you long-press the [Y] button instead of tapping it. This is the same thing you do to power-stance (dual wield two weapons). But leave that for later.
You mention "you don't want to spend time checking every nook and cranny." That would be a mistake. You already almost missed The Pursuer.
That’s a really good point 🙏
I will tell you not even I know how to properly fight those Heide Knights, the only thing that has consistently worked for me is a giant hammer which has an attack that flattens then to the ground where they can't attack and I just keep them there until they die, any other statregy just ends with me killed with their fast attacks and insanely fast retaliation after being hit, even back stabbing them can be bad sometimes because they have a fast attack to stop that as well.
I also had massive problems during the early stages of my first playthroughs. Eventually I got the hang of it. Last month I finished the game again, this time as a sorcerer - made them (and everybody else😂) a total walk in the park 🙈
I even destroyed most bosses first try (except for one of two); that was something I had never done in any Souls game 😅