So you just got DS2. You've probably played some Soulsborne games before. But this one's different. Strange. Frustrating. Everything feels weird and wrong and you're dying like a noob over and over again. And in desperation you've turned to Reddit for answers, God help you. Don't worry, we're generally a helpful bunch around here. But I'm getting a little tired of typing out the same responses 8 times a week. This is just a handy dandy FAQ for future reference as well as some hints, tips and strategies to make your stay in Drangleic as enjoyable as possible.

Why does my roll not work?

In DS2, I-frames when dodging are tied to a stat called Agility. Agility is raised by leveling Adaptability and Attunement. Adp raises it much faster than Att so if you don't plan on casting spells, just level Adp. 100 Agility will give you about the same frames as a DS1 fastroll. 105 is the equivalent of DS3. That sounds high, but that's only 25-32 Adaptability (as long as you didn't start as a Bandit) and levels come very fast in this game. I should also point out that many attacks can be simply sidestepped.

Why is everything so hard?

This game can be extremely easy if you use all the tools provided for you, but there's also lots of ways to make it harder without realizing. First and foremost is the Company of Champions covenant which is literally hard mode. All enemies deal more damage, take less and never despawn (yeah, you can despawn enemies in this one if you kill them enough) and all summon signs disappear. That's why an NPC tells you that it's for those who "seek greater challenges." And why it warns you that it "will set you on an arduous path." And why it asks you 3 times if you're sure you want to join. And why it gives you a leaderboard of the top members. And why you get the 'Covenant of the Fittest' achievement.

Why is my health bar shrinking?

Every time you die, you lose 5% of your health bar down to half. It's based on Spirit Form from Demon's Souls which was much more punishing and later got rebranded as Ember in DS3. DS1 is the odd one out in this respect. There's a ring in the second area that cuts the penalty in half and difficulty is designed for that much health. You can fix it with Human Effigies, which are a little rare early game but you can have unlimited once you start running into dogs. You can also get free humanity for engaging in jolly cooperation. Get the small soapstone early and leave a sign by the bonfire every now and then. Then all you have to do is run around being helpful for a few minutes to get your full health back.

What level should I be for co-op/pvp?

If you haven't heard yet, matchmaking in DS2 is based on Soul Memory, the total count of every soul you've ever collected. It was implemented to counter the serious twinking problem from DS1 and it was very effective at that specific job. Unfortunately, it caused more problems than it solved and the devs patched in a bandaid solution in the form of a ring that stops you from collecting souls, and in one fell swoop undermined the system's entire reason for existing.

The oppressiveness of Soul Memory is directly proportionate to how hard you try to control it. If you ignore it and play the game normally, just finding summon signs and invasions as they come, you'll never notice it. If you obsessively try to optimize every single soul spent and desperately try to stay in the Optimum Range for where you are, you're just going to spiral into a micromanagement nightmare and gain very little. My advice for managing Soul Memory, if you're worried about it:

• Don't eat any consumable souls you pick up
• Talk to Straid and get the Agape Ring early on (Bandits are too feeble minded).
• Keep an eye on the fast travel screen to see where the orange borders that mark activity in your range are.
• If the orange borders are mostly in areas you've already been and don't plan to revisit, pop some souls to bump up a tier or two.
• If you find an area that's active and you're enjoying yourself, or you just want to grind out a rare drop, put on the Agape Ring so you don't push yourself out of range.

Which way should I be going?

The first half to 2/3 of the game (depending on whether you count DLC and side areas) is four branching paths radiating from the central hub of Majula. You can do any of them in any order you want, but it's highly suggested to start at the Forest of Fallen Giants and take either the Pursuer or Heide's Tower of Flame to the Lost Bastille before you start the other 3. There's a lot of locked doors and blocked paths that you can open up later so maybe keep some notes on where they are. The game gets a lot more linear once you collect the four McGuffin souls.

What's with all the ganks?

Ok, let's clear something up. The actual enemy placement is not significantly different from the other Souls games. Hell, DS3 has crowds that dwarf anything DS2 can throw at you. The difference is in aggression and tenacity. Enemies will laser focus you as soon as you cross their aggro range and follow you to the ends of the earth. This means that most of the time, running past them just means getting shanked in the spine 30 seconds later. In addition, running to meet the first enemy you spot will usually mean crossing the aggro range of 2-3 more. DS2 doesn't reward aggressive or careless play, but a patient and tactical approach can fairly easily single out enemies from a crowd for easy 1v1 fights 9 times out of 10.

How can I enjoy this game?

This one is entirely up to you. Enjoyment is subjective and what works for me or others just plain might not work for you. Things are going to feel weird and different for a while and you may never fully get used to it. It might help to try a build you don't normally do so you're learning new muscle memory instead of relearning old. It also helps to not compare it to the other games. I know it's a sequel so comparisons are inevitable, but from what I've seen, the people who love the game love it for what it is and the ones who hate the game hate it for what it is not.

Hints and Tips

• There's an estus shard in the well in Majula. The actual well, not the giant pit.
• After you beat the first boss a merchant moves to Majula and sells unlimited Lifegems at 300 souls a pop.
• Durability drains fast and damage type matters. It pays to have backup weapons.
• Small and Large titanite are plentiful and there's little to no risk in using them. Chunks are uncommon and you should be careful how you spend them.
• Illusory walls open with the "interact" button.
• Spiders don't like torches and neither do windmills.
• There is no "best" weapon. Every one has positives and negatives and nearly any of them can work.
• Don't pull the lever.
• There's an NPC invader named Forlorn who can invade nearly anywhere. He's an asshole, but not as bad as Maldron.
• Fear the pigs.
• Bandit is the wort starting class.
• If you hop in a coffin and think nothing happened, take off your shirt.
• Check the comments for more tips of varying degrees of usefulness, but be wary of unmarked spoilers.