Introduction
This guide is meant to help you in your first playthrough of Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin. The following is a list of tips to help you progress and finish the game.
- Unlike other games in the souls series, your invincibility frame (or i-frame) depends on a stat called Adaptability. Levelling up Adaptability would permanently increase your i-frames. A minimum of 16 Adaptability should allow you to roll through most attacks. Equipping some items would temporarily grant you more i-frames, but at the cost of taking more damage or hitting not as hard or taking up a ring slot. The more i-frames you have, the better because you would be able to roll through an attack that would otherwise be impossible with low i-frames. In general, you should avoid an enemy's attack by being outside of an attack's hit box, rather than rolling through an attack. This means you often must bait an attack and run in for the punish.
- Vigor, Endurance, and Vitality are also important. Higher Vigor means more HP. Higher Endurance means you have more stamina for dashing or attacking with your weapon. Vitality is tied to your maximum equipment load. Higher Vitality means your character can equip heavier weapons and/or armour pieces. Always aim to be at less than 70% equipment load. Beyond 70% equipment load, your character would dash and roll slower.
- Have a main weapon for dealing with regular enemies scattered throughout an area. Your main weapon can be an ultra great sword or a great hammer, any of which allows you to quickly dispatch of most enemies. Your main weapon might be slow, but it should hit hard. Have a secondary weapon for fighting bosses. Choose a secondary weapon that has a fast attack and recovery animation, e.g. a rapier. Your secondary weapon might not hit as hard as your main weapon, but its fast attack and recovery animation should allow you plenty of time to move away or dodge an incoming attack from a boss. Furthermore, consider investing in a ranged weapon such as a bow, crossbow, or great bow. The purpose of a ranged weapon is not to kill enemies, but to lure an enemy away from its mob and approach your location where you can engage in one-to-one combat.
- Use Raw Stones to infuse your weapons. A raw weapon has high base damage output, but the weapon itself doesn't scale with your stats. You need only to invest enough points into Strength and/or Dexterity in order to properly wield the weapon. The damage output of a raw weapon can be further increased by upgrading the weapon with various upgrade materials. Buff your raw weapon with various elemental damage such as fire, magic, lightning, or dark for even more damage output.
- After being invaded by a red phantom (NPC or otherwise), return to the Soldier's Rest bonfire, search for the nearby dead giant that looks like a tree trunk, and see whether a Seed of a Tree of Giants has appeared. Grab the Seed if you see it hanging from one of the giant's arms. Use the Seed to make enemies hostile toward invaders. All red phantom invaders can be handled without using a Seed. However, there is one particular NPC red phantom invader who often runs towards enemy mobs, tricking you into chasing after him. Don't chase after the invader. Instead, use a Seed and let enemy mobs deal with him.
- Choose Knight as your starting class because that class has the second highest Adaptability, being at 9 Adaptability. The class with the highest starting Adaptability is the Explorer. However, the Knight gives you a decent armour set and weapon to deal with most enemies in the early game areas. Choose Healing Wares as your starting gift.
- Use a shield to block, but don't rely on your shield to carry you through the game. Instead of blocking with a shield, it is often more effective to bait an attack, then move in for a hit or two. The Tower Shield is recommended, but it requires 30 Strength to wield properly.
- Farming souls can help you to level up a few times before fighting a boss or exploring a difficult area, or to stock up on various consumables. You can minimize your time farming souls as follows. First, obtain the Covetous Silver Serpent Ring+1 as soon as possible and equip the ring. Second, when exploring an area defeat all enemies. Third, collect all items in an area. Some of the treasures are soul items that can be used to add to your souls counter.
- Be patient and learn from your mistakes. Whenever possible, fight enemies one at a time or use a weapon that has a horizontal swing to deal with mobs. Take your time to explore an area. Any difficult enemy can be dealt with in one way or another. Learn an enemy's attack patterns, look for an opportunity to get in one or two hits, and study the environment to see how you can use the surroundings to your advantage.
Use the following check list to help you keep track of your playthrough:
If you need to farm souls, refer to the following guide: