How to access the DLC?

• Important: The bundled DLC version does not add DLC keys automatically to your inventory. You must find these keys through game progress. Please see: Dragon Talon, Frozen Flower and Heavy Iron Key for details. 

• After buying a DLC an item is added to the inventory this item is respective of the DLC purchased, i.e. the 'Crown of the Sunken King' will place the Dragon Talon in the players inventory, the 'Crown of the Old Iron King' gives the Heavy Iron Key and the 'Crown of the Ivory King' is the Frozen Flower 

• Access to the 'Crown of the Sunken King' is just past the primal bonfire chamber in the Black Gulch. Examining an obelisk here teleport the player to the entrance of the DLC, a chamber with a locked door through this area opens with the Dragon Talon.
• Access to the 'Crown of the Old Iron King' is in a room past the primal bonfire that is within the Iron Keep. By examining the shrine the player will be teleported to another area where the Heavy Iron Key is needed to open the way to the DLC content.
• Access to the 'Crown of the Ivory King' is within the Shrine of Winter. By examining the shrine while having the Frozen Flower the player will be teleported to the DLC.

Players that don't have the DLC can be summoned into it by placing their signs in this chamber (i.e. Old Iron, and Sunken) . The signs will show up in the "bonus area" locations inside the DLC. Players who are summoned this way can get items normally only available in the DLCs, allowing them to sample some of what they have to offer without having to purchase anything. 

I am lost! Where do I go?

• The wiki's recommended order for approaching the game will be listed under Game Progress Route . You may find an easier way that matches your build but we have tried to create a seamless and logical process. We have also created a map of all the locations, and the links between them.

Where do I get my pre-order weapons?

• You must redeem the code that came with your pre-order edition or that was sent to you by mail if you ordered digitally. Once you have redeemed and downloaded the code, start the game and progress until you speak with the Three Firekeepers and you will have the option to customize your character. All of the weapons will be in your inventory then, in all and any characters you create.

What's the best Starting Class?

• Starting Classes overview can be found here. Overall, Warrior and Cleric are‍ advisable for beginners ‍ as they have a shield and self heals respectively while Deprived is for experienced players. The Sorcerer class is for intermediate players, low HP and stamina requires skill at dodgeing attacks, but the ranged spells and magical attacks quickly become very powerful and can make short work of most enemies.

What Starting Gift should I pick?

• It depends on your priorities, but the Healing Wares or Human Effigy are very useful when you are struggling through the first areas. Many experienced masochists should probably choose the Petrified Something or for a chance at a rare item or weapon if traded to the Dyna and Tillo.

How do I light a Torch?

• If you have acquired a torch stand near a bonfire, but don't sit, and wait for it to display the toggle option. Press the matching button and light your torch. It has a limited amount of time so use it wisely. You can also light your torch from a lit brazier. You can light braziers and and use them to relight your torch later.

How do I jump?

• To jump, check your options and select the button you would like to use (L3 or O on PS3). You can see details on the Controls Page.

Why did my sex change?

• if you took the coffin in Things Betwixt then you changed sexes. Congrats on your new-found womanhood or manhood. You can change it back by using the very same coffin again.

How do I level up?

• You need to talk to Emerald Herald at Majula. She is near the bonfire along the cliff. See our Stats page for guidance on what each levelling option does.

Where is the Blacksmith Key?

• It is in the Forest of Fallen Giants, Melentia at the Cardinal Tower bonfire (which is the second bonfire in that area) sells it for 1000 souls.

Where can I find a shield with 100 Physical Resistance?

• The Old Knights in front of Heide's Tower of Flame have a chance to drop an Old Knight Shield, which blocks against physical damage 100%. You can get this shield fairly early in the game, and it doesn't have very high stat, requirements.
• You can get the Drangleic Shield  after the battle with The Pursuer in the Forest of Fallen Giants. Also has the Drangleic Set (except for the helmet), including the Drangleic Greatsword.
• You may also get the Red Rust Shield from Head of Vengarl in the Shaded Woods to the left of the foggy forest and after talking to him a few times he will become a merchant and teach the Gesture decapitation.

Why can't I see summon signs or place one?

• This could be happening for quite a few reasons that have been discovered so far

1. You have entered the Company of Champions, which one of the effects of this covenant is restricting summoning to increase difficulty. You can leave the covenant at any time by talking to the Cat, Sweet Shalquoir in Majula or by joining a different covenant.
2. The MAIN reason most of the time (especially in the first week of release) is the servers are undergoing maintenance , and the only solution is to be patient and wait until the work is complete. You can check to see whether or not there will be maintenance any time soon by going to the Dark Souls II main menu and clicking "Information" , this will let you know anything going on with the Dark Souls servers.
3. Are you human? You must be 100% human to see signs.
4. Did you burn a Human Effigyi n a bonfire? This puts you into "offline mode" for an hour so you you can be human and not invaded. You can cancel this effect in the Bonfire menu.
5. Do you have Name-Engraved Ring  equipped? This will prohibit you from seeing any signs but those with that ring equipped (even NPCphantoms)
6. After you place your summon sign and the summon fails (usually bad connection or the host already has enough players), the White Sign Soapstone becomes unusable. To fix this glitch, quit the game and continue.
7. Is the area boss alive? If the area boss is dead you will only be able to see Small Soap Stone signs.
8. There are certain areas that you cannot place a summon sign or summon other players. One example is in Heide's Tower of Flame, after the second bonfire, you go into an area inside the tower, and can not place your sign nor summon other players.

Why do I get Rubbish  from chests?

• Some wooden chests will break  if attacked over a damage threshold. The item within them is then rendered useless. Attack chests with barefists only and be mindful enemies can break them too!

How do I repair my equipment?

• Your equipment is repaired automatically every time you rest at a bonfire. If you break your weapon you must seek Blacksmith Lenigrast in Majula to repair it. If you have not unlocked his house yet with the key, you'll have to head over to the Forest of Fallen Giants and locate Melentia to buy the Blacksmith Key  from her.

Where is the large White Sign Soapstone? 

• Pate has it near the gate outside the Cardinal Tower bonfire in the Forest of Fallen Giants. Head down the ladder and keep going the only way you can go until you go up a large root on to a bridge. Fight through the Undead Hollows and go down a ladder and you will see him up ahead. Talk to him and go through the gate and let him lock it behind you. Once this happens fight your way up on to the ramparts and drop down near him and talk to him 3x in a row and he will give you the Large White Soapstone.

 

What is the difference between the Small White Sign Soapstoneand the regular one?

• The White Sign Soapstones are now limited by time. Summoned companions are only allowed for a certain amount of time based on the number of kills. As more enemies are killed in the session, time is subtracted. The Small White Sign Soapstone has a much, much smaller time than the regular one. Small White Sign Soapstone's provide a Smooth and Silky Stone to trade to Dyna and Tillo after time runs out or defeats a boss with the host. This is the easiest way to farm Smooth & Silky Stones by placing your sign in front of a boss fog wall. The regular White Sign Soapstone provides a Token of Fidelity after time runs or defeated the boss with a host. Token of Fidelity is used for ranking up in the Blue Sentinels covenant by allowing you one dual per token, or can be used to heal a host player's HP.

Where is Straid? Where did he go?

• After defeating the Ruin Sentinels, Straid is found at the top of Lost Bastille, before Sinner's Rise, nearby many exploding mummies and a bonfire. He is petrified and you must use a Fragrant Branch of Yore to undo petrify curse. After you talk to him the first time, he moves right outside of the bonfire cell.

Why does it seem Magic doesn't do as much damage as it did in Dark Souls?

• It seems as though some spells aren't as they seem in Dark Souls II. For example, Dark Sorceries (Hexes) use and scale with Faith, and Intelligence. Though it may seem as though you only need required stat. For the two for the certain spell, it is actually using the lowest stat from the two! Say you're using Dark Orb, which requires 10 Faith and 12 Intelligence. You want this to be your strongest spell! So you grind hard, and get your Faith up to 50. Well, Dark Souls II is going to ignore the fact that you have 50 faith, because it bases the strength of that spell on the lowest stat that is required, which in this case, it would be basing the damage scaling on your 12 Intelligence.

What is a Lag-Stab?

• A Lag-Stab is when the internet connection is poor causing you be back-stabbed when on your screen you should not have. Usually, this appears like bad latency on the victim's screen, but most of the time it looks completely normal on the screen of the person dealing the stab. This was the same in the first Dark Souls, though it shouldn't happen as often in Dark Souls II, and if it does continue to happen, it is most likely your connection that's creating the bad latency, so you shouldn't be angry at your opponents who appear to be dealing the, "Lag-Stab".

How is PVP in DS II?

• Usually people choose to cap at level 150. Nontheless in DSII multiplayer the level has no influence at the moment, only the soul memory counts. 

Where is my save file and how can I make a backup?

1) Type "%appdata% without the quotes in your Start Menu.
2) Go into the Roaming folder.
3) Locate and go into the Dark Souls II subfolder.
4) Go into the only folder that should be present which will have some long alphanumeric name, typically "01100001028557af."
5) Copy the .sl2 file from this folder and paste into a new location. This is now your backup.
Video tutorial

How can I find more Human Effigies?

• The Old Firekeepers at the very beginning of the game can net you 9 Human Effigies if you kill them, but one of them allows you to respec your character using a Soul Vessel, so be wary (it is never a good idea to kill NPCs, as they will usually give the same items and more besides as quest rewards later). Dogs at Lost Bastille and the humanoid spiders at Brightstone Cove Tseldora drop Human Effigies. Late game, Shrine of Amana's underwater dwellers are a gold mine for Human Effigies. Carry a torch! Highly recommended to purchase the Traveling Merchant Hat at Majula from Merchant Hag Melentia, wear the Covetous Gold Serpent Ring, and use Rusted Coins  for higher drop rates.
• Human Effigies can be difficult to find with the limited amount of information on mob drops and the new game mechanic: mobs stop respawning after a certain amount of times killed. To respawn mobs, you may use a Bonfire Ascetic, but that area will become NG+ permanently meaning enemies will have more health and hit much harder among various other effects. A recent patch allows players to make enemies respawn endlessly by joining the Company of Champions covenant, even if those enemies were completely despawned before.
• If you find yourself desperate to become human, there is an alter you can pray to and you will become human. In Shrine of Amana, after you defeat the boss, proceed to the right and follow this path. Take another right and you'll come to a staircase leading to a door. It only becomes unlocked if you're hollow. Follow this path and you will come across the alter. To become human, a few things are required. You must have talked to the Milfanito (the woman before boss) so she disappears. You must also ‍ not have killed any of the other singing women in the Shrine of Amana. Also, you must not have a high Sin level and ‍ have no Human Effigies in your inventory or your item box.
• The easiest repeatable way to become human again (and recover your max HP) is to help others using a White Sign Soapstone. When you help a player to defeat a boss, you are rewarded with a free restoration to human form, and a quarter of the souls that boss would normally drop. This can be repeated infinitely, at no cost to you, and you will not even lose your souls or your humanity if you fail to kill the boss.
• The single most effective way to keep all of your souls and your human form for as long as you want, is by following these steps:
  1. Unlock the first blacksmith in Majula (his key is in the Forest of Fallen Giants)
  2. Find the Ring of Soul Protection, and/or the Ring of Life Protection
  3. Find a Human Effigy, equip one of the rings, then use the effigy
  4. When and if you die, simply equip the other ring you didn't have on that's not broken as soon as you respawn. Then, go to Majula and talk to the blacksmith, and get him to repair your broken ring. If you don't have the souls, simply keep the other ring on, farm easy enemies, and play cautiously
  As long as you do these steps, you will NEVER lose your souls, and you will NEVER go hollow! This is the BEST way to stay human, and not cheat.

 

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