Recommended builds?

[Nicholas Angel 04]

I want to play DS2 because of all it's neat ideas but I'm having trouble with the combat. Of course part of it is ADP but the biggest problem for me is not being able to turn while attacking. Is there any playstyle or build I can use?

[spy]

You are doing 99 agility (AGL). You will see that it increases as you give it to ADP and ATN stats. Give it as you wish.

Hex builds are strong. Make 30 int and 30 faith and talk to Felkin the Outcast. Use the headgear of the set he gives.

You are ready. You can finish the game by using hex spells. Search all hex spells.

[JellyPuff]

How much control you have while attacking with no lock-on depends on the weapon-attack. You can't really turn with thrust-attacks, but with most horizontal-sweeps, like what many Greatswords have, you can do full 180's during the start-up.

not sure what build to recommend. I don't really know what you are looking for.
Despite not being able to guide your movement much with thrusts, 140 counter-damage thrust swords are still super OP in this game.
Just try out different weapons, until you feel like you've found one that's the most fun for your playstyle. Anything's PvE viable or can be brute forced into being viable via +dmg rings.

One thing i will recommend, no matter the build: Vigor. You want 50 ideally as soon as it isn't too inconvenient. More HP = more mistakes (gravity-related mistakes not included).
ADP shouldn't be an issue anymore, once Agility is at 99, but 105 might be more ideal. That's the equivalent to DS1 or DS3 fastrolls, in terms of iframes. That's also the softcap (edit: faster Estus drinking hardcaps at 100 Agility).

[Needo62]

its quite shrimple, stop pushing buttons with no thought, perhaps learn to play unlocked, guide ur attacks on ur own, make each button press deliberate, ultra great weapons DO allow u to turn a full 180 degrees each attack so maybe try one of those

Originally posted by spy:

You can finish the game by using hex spells. Search all hex spells.

or if youd like to ignore 90% of the game mechanics and functions to just stand at the back pushing a grand total of 1 button to spam projectiles at things for the entire game and get to the end having learnt nothing and not improved at all, do this

[spy]

Originally posted by Needo62:

its quite shrimple, stop pushing buttons with no thought, perhaps learn to play unlocked, guide ur attacks on ur own, make each button press deliberate, ultra great weapons DO allow u to turn a full 180 degrees each attack so maybe try one of those

Originally posted by spy:

You can finish the game by using hex spells. Search all hex spells.

or if youd like to ignore 90% of the game mechanics and functions to just stand at the back pushing a grand total of 1 button to spam projectiles at things for the entire game and get to the end having learnt nothing and not improved at all, do this

Pal this game never ends. He can change this build whenever he wants. So don't say he won't learn anything.

[Nicholas Angel 04]

How doable is a hex ultra sword build for NG?

[JellyPuff]

Originally posted by Nicholas Angel 04:

How doable is a hex ultra sword build for NG?

Very. Hexes are cheesy (use Binoculars to aim with spells, like Dark Orb) and the Crypt Blacksword is literally made for this exact type of build (phys+dark ultra) and hits pretty hard, especially if you buff it with Dark Weapon. It's traded for a boss soul only dropping from The Rotten on NG+, but using a Bonfire Ascetic[darksouls2.wikidot.com] on the Hidden Chamber-bonfire re-spawns The Rotten and puts the boss at NG+ difficulty, so you can get it on NG.

[76561199740004350]

Hit the minimum stats to be able to 2hand the weapon you want to use, Get VGR to 50, END to 20, enough ATN/ADP to hit 96 AGL, and enough ATN/INT/FTH to cast Dark Weapon.

[Paradox]

Originally posted by Nicholas Angel 04:

I want to play DS2 because of all it's neat ideas but I'm having trouble with the combat. Of course part of it is ADP but the biggest problem for me is not being able to turn while attacking. Is there any playstyle or build I can use?

If it's your first time playing, I'd highly recommend that you choose Company of Champions covenant and a barefisted build.

[causality]

Play whatever you want. This slop is so boring and easy that you can beat it walking without ever dodge rolling.

[Edgarek]

Originally posted by spy:

Pal this game never ends. He can change this build whenever he wants. So don't say he won't learn anything.

1 spell spam and rapier r1 would slowly melt your brain and its quite possible to beat the all souls games without learning anything.

[Willheart]

Originally posted by causality:

Play whatever you want. This slop is so boring and easy that you can beat it walking without ever dodge rolling.

/me finding DS1 and DS3 playthroughs with the same premise
So you're saying it's all Fromslop?

On-topic, basic weapons like straight-swords or axes will hit consistently with good damage, greatswords are also a good option not necessarily for damage but for extra stagger potential+range. [Dark Weapon] hex is definitely top-tier efficiency though for any NG build.

[Arikado]

For agility I would want at the very least 96. Under that amount it feels like you get clipped a lot by air. 105 is a great stopping point but requires much more investment. Also do not discount armor on NG. People always say it doesn't matter but even just spending 1000 souls with Maughlin and then buying the Elite Knight Set will give you a tremendous damage reduction on NG and some poise. If you don't mind always being between 50 and 70% weight the Drangleic set is free, easy and early to get and provides a lot of DR and poise. I just did a hexer playthrough but honestly. Magic in souls games is predominantly extremely boring. The best spells are almost always glorified soul arrows and everything else either situational, gimmicky, less dps or leaves you too open. 30/30 hexer builds are OP in the sense that dark orb about as strong as a leo ring R2 rapier poke but you need a ton of orb to get through and you will want 50+Attunement. I think it's actually easier to get minimum stat requirement, 50,20,50 VIG,END,VIT and weapon requirements, put on some good medium and play through that way. It's easier to learn when you die in 5 instead of 3 hits.

For weapons you either fight unlocked or you use the great weapon classes that let you swing freely despite being locked on. Also another quirk with DS2 is that after a roll, you are locked into attacking into the rolling direction if you buffer the attack during the roll. So what you want to do is roll, then wait until you regain movement control and then launch an attack, this kills many people with said great weapons.

[saroz2222]

I recommend 2500 hp havel monster ( and it is not much lvl )