So... durability WAS bugged all this time, see?

[Darko]

I was wondering why my sword's durability was running too low for no reason on certain parts of the game, and after some googling and with a friend's help we found this:


http://www.reddit.com/r/DarkSouls2/comments/23xwuc/weapon_durability_bug/


http://www.reddit.com/r/DarkSouls2/comments/243hkg/pc_warning_weapon_breaking_bug_do_not_attack_dead/


I just tested this and what happens is that each time your weapon swing touches an enemy that is on its dying animation it loses a chunk of durability, way more than normally hitting an enemy, hitting a wall, etc. Mashing through an enemy once won't be an issue, but the more enemies piled together the bigger the hit to the durability you'll get when you swing through their dying bodies, and that causes zones with big ambushes like the bastilla to drain the durability incredibly fast.

So, I'm posting this here to raise awareness for all the people like me who were wondering what's up with this. And before anybody suggests it no, this hardly sounds like an intended feature. And apparently this is an issue on the console versions too, so since this hasn't been fixed yet I'm not getting my hopes high on it getting patched anytime soon, if at all.

In the meanwhile, it may be a good idea to carry a secondary weapon for mass control and leave the main one for big baddies. And even then be careful to not mash the attack when they have low health.

EDIT: I learned now that it happens when hitting a corpse in general, regardless of wether it's in its death animation or it's just lying on the ground. Also I'm adding estimate values for the durability spent per hit on a regular short sword depending on what you hit.

Enemy: ~0.5 durability per hit
Wall/Floor: ~0.5 per hit
Corpse: 2.0 per hit.

EDIT 2: Since some people didn't seem to understand what's the issue I made a video with a live demonstration explaining how the durability normally works and what part of it is bugged

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PatmbHCpGPM

EDIT 3: the reply from Namco Bandai is that it's all actually intended :| soooo we'll have to live with it.

EDIT 4: A year later... look at that.

[BiskutMentega]

I thought that was intentional since the durability will goes 100% whenever I rest at the bonfire.

[Gui_Yu]

In places like No-Man's Warf, you must carry a backup weapon or repair powder because you are not going to make it to the boss, with your main weapon, if you plan on fighting your way through.

[Piszczel]

If you hit a dead body, it kills the durability. It's been this way since release on consoles and I doubt it's a bug, sounds like an intended effect.

It makes obtaining the real Santier Spear so much easier. On console, I was mashing the spear for two ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ hours against a wall to break it. On PC, I just attacked a body and it took me 5 minutes.

[Darko]

Why would losing 5 times the normal ammount of durability when hitting an enemy that is already dead be an intended feature?

[Piszczel]

Originally posted by Darko:

Why would losing 5 times the normal ammount of durability when hitting an enemy that is already dead be an intended feature?

To punish noobs who mash R1 I guess? Makes you learn the game and conserve your stamina/attacks.

[Donkey_Puncher]

Its possible its intended.. but even so there are only a couple areas in the game where I found durability to be much of an issue at all. I use a +10 lighting claymore and a +5 lighting defender's great sword. Through most zones by the time I get through with them my main weapon is at around 30-40% left every time.

[Darko]

Originally posted by piszczel1:

To punish noobs who mash R1 I guess? Makes you learn the game and conserve your stamina/attacks.

Mashing R1 during an ambush is the perfect way to lose your stamina fast and leave yourself open to gang attacks, that is punishment enough.

Now seriously, it may be hard to believe but people (like programmers, and even the programmers of the games we like) can make mistakes and oversee things sometimes.

[SteJEON]

I've found durability so far to be weird as hell. 2 to get through the tower of flame, 3 weapons to get through No Mans Wharf but 1 for the last bastille and I sure as hell wasn't hammering walls in no mans wharf or the tower of flame.

[I use Windows 11 btw]

Originally posted by piszczel1:

If you hit a dead body, it kills the durability. It's been this way since release on consoles and I doubt it's a bug, sounds like an intended effect.

How does it makes sense whiffing your weapon through a dropped body be more punishable than hitting a wall to its durability?

I love fantasy games but physics need to make some sense in establishing ruleset. The body of the living enemy and the body of the dead enemy are made of the same material. Makes zero logic.

And what's with the "it's been this way in the consoles" argument? This doesn't invalidate it as a bug, this just proves that it exists in the consoles.

I love the Dark Souls series but a bug is a bug.

[Piszczel]

I believe it's intended because this "bug" has been known since release, for two months now, and FROM hasn't addressed it in any of their patches. I don't know why, but they are not patching it out.

[I use Windows 11 btw]

Originally posted by piszczel1:

I believe it's intended because this "bug" has been known since release, for two months now, and FROM hasn't addressed it in any of their patches. I don't know why, but they are not patching it out.

So, 2 months is the deadline for any bugs to be squashed otherwise they're intended features?

[Piszczel]

Originally posted by 7am PRAISE IT:

Originally posted by piszczel1:

I believe it's intended because this "bug" has been known since release, for two months now, and FROM hasn't addressed it in any of their patches. I don't know why, but they are not patching it out.

So, 2 months is the deadline for any bugs to be squashed otherwise they're intended features?

Well, they have patched the most obvious bugs out already, and they are clearly igoring this issue. It must be a design choice, it's probably why there's so many bonfires around. The durability seems to run out just as you reach a new bonfire.

[Humanoid]

My Halberd broke after a killing 2 groups of monsters on the way to the boss in Lost Bastile. It HAS to be bugged.

[The_Daleatron]

Yea i noticed this in the wharf area, my swords durabiltiy goes down abnormally fast after like 4 mobs its nearly broken, and its +5 !

[Hora Bablonde]

It is annoying when you often have swarms of enemies come at you and your default weapon swing is a slow 180 sweep. You may take down half the group with a swing or two but you are going to need to swing again when the other half start to swarm you. This happens many times on the way down to Dukes dear Freja. Alot of the times I have been summoned for the fight I have to use a seperation crystal at the fog gate because my weapon is at risk.