I'm not sure how I feel about the disappearing enemies thing. The first 4 dudes in No Man's Wharf are now disappeared for me, even though I haven't beaten the boss yet, so really it just feels like the game taking its foot off the gas pedal and going easy on me since each time through this area now I don't have to fight as many people.

I think one of my favorite parts of the online experience is the foreshadowing. Like, in the mansion in Majula:

So, unlike DS1 where I hacked and slashed my way to victory I have upgraded my INT and FTH high enough to be able to use Soul Arrow and Heal, cause why not. I also have a pyromancy flame but don't think I have any spells for it. Anyway, I assume that to upgrade both INT and FTH while still trying to be a mostly melee character will result in me spreading myself too thin, is that about right? What are the benefits of each?

Wow, I had a close call in the lost bastille. At the beginning I fell behind where you can shoot the first big ogre guy and got stuck. I couldn't move from behind the wood area. I tried to quit the game, and when I re booted it brought me back to that spot with no where to go. Seems like a glitch. Fortunately I had about 7 of the items that you can warp to the last bonfire or else I might have had to start over. Just a heads up to keep those on hand for a similar situation.

They give you the darksign for that. You lose all of your souls when you use it, though.

Lost Bastille boss:

Thank you...never had to use that before if it was available in previous games, just had a quick panic attack . I'm at about level 50 but I feel I have spread out my stats to wide. I have pumped 23-25 into Intelligence, but pretty much kept faith alone as I had to get enough stats to even hold a fricken shield or crummy sword (I think 10 dex and str). Then I'm thinking **** I need endurance remember previous Dark Souls. Then I'm thinking **** I need equipment load increase to carry better armor for my lower hp sorcerer. Then I'm thinking **** I need hp so I don't get one hit killed as often lol....

Ah Dark Souls II. I hate this game (I kid obv). I think I have the dark vessel or whatever it is I can start over and redistribute all of the stats. Has anyone had to do that yet if they feel they butchered a build?

Looks like you are one step ahead of me . I plan on hopefully a strong 10 hour day today since the wife is still out of town. I am ready for this boss too as I stepped through the mist the first time and

I'm about 22 hours in, time flies when your Dark Souling. So awesome so far. Someone asked if it's more similar to Demons or Dark, I think its a pretty even hybrid of both.

I'm not a big fan of enemies stop respawning though, like others.

Also, without saying too much, I feel like there's some "indifferent" changes in this game in that they aren't better or worse, but different, and enjoyable in their own way.

As a whole I feel like this game is slightly better than DS1 for the equivalent timeframe (which is saying A LOT because DS1 might be my GOAT), but I still haven't gotten to areas which are as good or better than peak DS1.

I did get stuck twice and have to walkthrough it up, there's basically no way I would have found this stuff without it. Luckily there's limited info in the guide I looked at and it was easy to avoid future areas.

I'm struggling with lost bastille with our without help . I only have like 9 or 10 effigies and I want to save them. I may have to just skip it and come back. I beat the skeleton lords, but cant beat the damn sisters. I think I totally butchered this sorcerer build at level 70 lol. I may have to use one of my two dark vessels and reallocate the points. You know it's bad when your melee weapon is a broadsword +2 this far into it.

I don't understand PvP, is it just laggy as hell? I keep dying to someone stunning me and then killing me while I jam block or roll and can't do anything.

Haha, had an epic PvP in Belfry Luna. I summoned a dude to help w/ boss fight, then a gray spirit invaded and we got him most of the way down. Another gray spirit invaded, and while I finished off the first guy the new invader killed my friend. Then I tracked down the new invader, who was pretty low on health but was this really annoying mage person or something who just rolled away all the time while firing soul arrows. Was pretty annoying because a.) what looked on my screen like hits from my sword apparently didn't register, and b.) soul arrows that didn't even come close to hitting my body on my screen apparently did hit me and took health down. But eventually I got the ****er.

#justice

I never played the original but I've always been intrigued by the concept. I'm a roguelike fan (both old school and the new hybrids) so i'm no stranger to punishing games that reward you for dedication and patience.

Should I get this game? If so, should I get it for PS3 or wait for the PC release. I'd probably have to buy a new PC for it tho.

Yes you should get it, and while the PC master race people will probably all tell you to get it on PC, I see no problem with playing on a console.

You'll probably love it. There's an itch that Souls games scratch for some people that no other games do and if you turn out to be one of those people you'll really love it. I'm enjoying the hell out of the console version and plan on buying it for PC as well.

Is this one better than the original?

I would guess that you'll get a pretty wide range of opinions on that one. I can say that I am enjoying it as much I did the first one the first time I played it. It's going to take a few playthroughs to get a better sense of the big picture. I would play DS2 right now, though, because that's where everyone else is and PvP and co-op is such a big part of the game.

So I've been struggling at half life w/o any effigies. Decided to lay down my sign for the first time just to see what's up. I'm generally not much of a fan of pvp or coop, but I was curious. Killed some guys with the main guy for a while, and eventually died. When I went back to my world, I was human. Full health. Awesome. Seems too good?

Also, someone may have explained this already, but what's phantom vs shade?

Shaded Woods:

I am playing as a sorcerer now and I don't find a shield super-necessary through the first few areas. Most of the early enemies can be stunlocked to death with a dagger, and groups can be split up and kited. Rolling is key against the enemies that won't stun.

Just wait ...I do agree a little rusty on the rolling, but at least for me a shield becomes very valuable at the very least for arrows, if not block and counters when I don't feel like constantly rolling.

On a bright side I was able to skip the ***** sentinals and beat the next couple of areas which helped with leveling up so I will eventually hopefully be able to come back and clear that section, possibly without my little helper.

I'm at level 78 and still using a Varangian Sword that I picked up in No Man's Wharf. My secondary weapon if that one runs out of durability is - brace yourself - "Club", sold by the merchant at the Cardinal Tower bonfire. Where da good weapons at??? I don't even have anything super awesome on the horizon that I can't quite use yet b/c of stats or anything. I also have no embers to upgrade to anything cool if I even wanted to. These weapons are dog**** yo.

So wtf is the point of armor? Watching these guys speedrun and they're just pumping their life up and they can take more hits while naked than I can with less HP and good armor.