Introduction

This guide details routes and strategies to reach the maximum soul level of 838 in Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin. The guide relates to NG+1 onward. Some details discussed in the guide are not found in NG+0.

The challenge is to beat the game over and over again to obtain souls to level up to the maximum soul level. You can certainly farm souls to level up. The Giant Lord is the best source of souls in the game. Refer to the following videos for a strategy to farm the Giant Lord:

Farming the Giant Lord, Dark Souls 2: SotFS

Armour set for soul farming, Dark Souls 2: SotFS

In addition to farming souls, you can also beat the game NG after NG, a change from the monotony of farming the Giant Lord over and over again. The rest of the guide will show you routes and strategies to beat the game. We will only cover an any% route to help you beat the game in as few bosses as possible. You can incorporate parry walk into your route to help you skip various areas and bosses. However, as we want souls to level up, this guide will not discuss parry walk any further.

DS2 60 FPS Current Patch Parrywalking Guide - Final Update!

Before you begin

Prior to commencing the challenge run, use one character to complete the game a few times to at least NG+3. The reasons are twofold. First, doing so helps to familiarize yourself with the game and various paths you can take to reach certain bosses. You need to know the game well enough to recognize the enemies and paths ahead of you. Second, you need to get to at least NG+3 in order to collect as many weapons, spells, armour sets, and other items as possible, preferably all weapons and spells. Some weapons and spells are better suited against certain enemies/bosses than others.

Consider doing the challenge run while playing offline. This would prevent other players from invading you while you run through an NG cycle. Playing offline does not prevent the NPC Forlorn from randomly invading you at various areas in the game. Refer to the video below for how to set the game to offline mode.

How to play Dark Souls 2 SotFS offline

You might find the following tips useful:

1. Stock up on anything you need before commencing the challenge run. Useful items include the various Lifegems, the various herbs, Flame Butterfly, Repair Powder, and Brightbug. As you proceed through an area, collect various consumables you need. Some enemies drop Old Radiant Lifegems or Dragon Charms. Collect items they drop and pray that RNGesus blesses you with consumables you need.
2. Mix and choose the fashion you want, but ensure your equip load is below 70%. Raw defense numbers can help you tank one or more hits, but fashion is also important. If your character is going to be killed within one or two hits, you might as well let them die in fashionable style.
3. Hex, pyromancy, and sorcery can help you quickly dash through an area or defeat many bosses. Dark Weapon, Great Chaos Fireball, Crystal Soul Spear, and Yearn are among the most useful spells for the challenge run. Ensure you have a large stock of various herbs, Rouge Water, and Crimson Water to replenish your spell uses. Equip the Southern Ritual Band+2 for an extra three attunement slots.
4. Rings can boost your damage output, especially the rings relating to spells. The Clear Bluestone Ring+2, Dark Clutch Ring, Fire Clutch Ring, and Sorcery Clutch Ring can boost your DPS.
5. Various armour pieces, weapons, and shields have special effects. Carry the items that have the effects you want. For example, the Warlock Mask boosts the amount of souls you receive by 2.5%, the Blue Dagger raises the damage output of spells by 5%, and the Blossom Kite Shield infused with poison can block 100% of poison.
6. Regardless of which items you equip, try to minimize the number of times you swap out items to prevent confusion. For example, during your run through an NG cycle, you might want to occasionally swap out an armour piece for the piece you want in a particular situation. Before a boss fight, swap to the ring that boosts your damage output. Prior to running through a poison area, swap to a shield that can block some or all poison. It is OK if you are comfortable with swapping out items in each area. Consider writing down a list and place it in front of you as you run through an NG cycle. Include anything that can help to jog your memory, such as the order of bosses to fight.
7. Running through each area takes practice. After running through a few NG cycles, consider how you would incorporate a minor change to your routine in order to boost your damage output or save you some time. Small changes are easier to incorporate into your routine than drastic changes.
8. Learn from your mistakes. Incorporate the experiences of speedrunners into your strategies. The following videos might help:
   NG+99 Challenge Run complete
   
   Dark Souls II SotfS Old Souls (Restricted) in 1h05m16s
   
9. The Brightbug glitch can help you survive areas filled with strong enemies. Equip the Pharros Mask, consume a Brightbug, quit to main menu, and load your character again. The effects of the Brightbug should now last until your character dies or you warp to a different area.
10. Practice, practice, practice. Each NG cycle you complete helps you hone your skills at running through an area. There is no shortcut to mastery other than putting in the time to practice a run. Here is the final run in which I obtained the maximum soul level of SL838.
    Day 94 NG+100 finally at max level SL838, Dark Souls 2 SotFS