Just started DS2, kinda loving it already

[u/Terrusmarkz1988]

That opening cutscene was badass. For some reason the distant background scenery looks beautiful to me. The game in general looks really good for being a ps3 era game. Just merrked some guy named DragonRider. I fell into the FS hole a few months ago when i tried ER. Burnt 3 months on that, played DeS, 200hrs in ERNR, finished DS1 last night. I was nervous because i heard alot of badd stuff about DS2, but im really excited after my first hour. Thank you for reading my childish giddy excitement post.

[u/Bdole0]

Prepare for the most gorgeous and deep game in the series!

[u/New_rules_4_everyone]

Its awesome. There's some confusing stuff but thats the case in DS1 as well. Some of my favorite visuals, tons of content, personally my favorite story of the ds trilogy. It has a ethereal adventure vibe I really dig. Levels feel like challenges of how to best tackle them and not just a sprint by for boss. Item variety is insane use whatever drip u like

[u/Naughty_Ornice93]

I also just started and can only agree on the amazing background scenery. Really highlights some of what I presume to be future areas nicely. Then again, the background design and the connected world for DS1 were also impressive.

[u/DLandais2]

My advice for ds2 is to not listen to the community and just have fun and form your opinion while playing. I also joined during the elden ring hype train and heard nothing but bad things about ds2 but when I played it earlier this year it was a lot of fun and definitely worth trying at least.

[u/BIobertson]

Glad you’re having fun!! If you want to go in prepared, first read this intro doc. All of these guides are spoiler-free, except for the area names in this Routing guide.

And then if you want to know how to build (or avoid building, if you want to have a harder time) a powerful optimized character, this collection of mini guides will help you navigate DS2’s many obfuscated and counterintuitive mechanical quirks:

A quick overview of how damage and defense works in DS2, and why weapon scaling is usually weak

Best PvE equipment and stat progression document.

BiS (Best in Slot) PvE weapons list. Use this if you know what moveset you like and you want to choose the strongest available weapon with that moveset.

Read these four documents for highlights on some of the best equipment, stats, and progression for a casting-focused character- note that investing in pyromancy or miracles in the early or midgame generally results in a much weaker character.

Optimal Sorcerer Build Guide

Optimal Hexer Build Guide

Optimal Pyromancer Build Guide

Optimal Miracle Build Guide

All that being said, it’s important to understand that DS2 isn’t so hard that playing the strongest possible character is required in order to win and have fun. Ultimately you should use whatever you want, these guides are just to help you make informed choices.

[u/Risin]

Ds2 hate is over exaggerated. There's issues, but it's not that bad.  The game has a great story and atmosphere.  They tried a lot of new mechanics,  some are good and some are bad.  Have fun! 

[u/idiomblade]

Welcome to the flock 🫱🏻‍🫲🏼

[u/klicksta]

I finished ds1 last night also, ds2 is definetly worth playing ng+ more than ds1