DS2: Elvis has left the building.
Someone tells me hey, go to the throne already,
finish it, but I have reason to believe that Someone doesn't have my best interests at heart. So instead I'm poking around this old mansion and oh my god you guys I found the snazziest witch outfit, it's unbelievable. I'm too dumb to wear the hat (and, hilariously, wearing equipment you don't meet the stats for slows your movement down even if the stat in question is purely mental) but it looks totally fabulous even without that. I would definitely switch this in as my standard armor set if only I could upgrade it! But I can't because that calls for more twinkling titanite than I've found in the entire game (argh, why is this stuff so rare). Will have to table that one for whenever I get around to running a mage.
Keyblade got! Keyblade lost.
Will I dedicate a ring slot to looking all pretty and human even while undead? You better believe I will.
Shrine of Amana was creepy, but in a sorta different way? Unexpected use of torchlight! Frog granny was a no damage kill, though. Crypt was just dark, discouraged use of torchlight. The bells, the belllllls! Presently in dragon country, which really doesn't bode well considering how encounter with the last one turned out (survival only because HP tankin'). Other than this...hmm, there's still that big black door in the Forest of Fallen Giants (which I should be able to open now). And someone tells me there's something beneath Black Gulch, which is just...auuuugh.
If it wasn't apparent from volume of ::words:: expended over last several days, pretty much all my silly early bitching about whoamg things are slightly different turned out to be stuff that is almost wholly inconsequential and I am in fact very impressed.
-Magma chests in the Iron Keep*. Even with the fire resist ring and Flash Sweat up, I can only survive long enough to make it to the chests. If these were items on corpses, I'd just grab them and die, but no, I have to be able to survive long enough for the entire chest-opening animation to play out. Ack. Short of taking time to identify and upgrade the most fire-resistant armor set in the game, doubt I am ever getting these two (maybe it would help if my only upgraded armor set was something other than the harem outfit).
Just got this one. By the sniper who attacks you when you're by the entrance to the big lava pit room there's a Pharros Lockstone that when unlocked releases a pool of water. Roll around in that and see if your footprints turn dark, if they do that means you have greater fire resistance for a while. Also you can drop straight by the chest from the draw bridge you lowered with the switches. You need the Silvercat ring or else you'll die from fall damage but it puts you right by the chest. Aside from that, Flash Sweat, Orange Burr, and any equipment that boosts your fire resist or health. You can also pop some lifegems to give you and extra few fractions of a second.
I tried all that stuff except the water pool (somehow didn't make the connection at the time) and still died. Always croaked right before finishing the chest opening animation. Oh well. Unless there's a hoard of ore in those chests, I don't much care to go back for it anymore. The strange thing is, when I tried popping an orange burr while Flash Sweat was active, I actually died
faster. It seemed like the item effect overwrote the spell effect.