Dark Souls III: Witty Title Pending

[Rodin]

I'd go for the Hunter Blackbow for PvE; more damage than the Shortbow, almost as fast and stamina efficient with more range. Remember to use Stone Ring vs staggerable enemies.

Cool, I'll go with that. Any recommendations for an intermediate bow while I work my way out there? Dragonrider Bow looks good but I'm worried about the high stamina consumption if it's my primary weapon.

[Surrealistik]

Cool, I'll go with that. Any recommendations for an intermediate bow while I work my way out there? Dragonrider Bow looks good but I'm worried about the high stamina consumption if it's my primary weapon.

If you're going for a Faith build, Bow of Want is even better though you only get it after killing Nashandra (legitimately anyways).

[Rodin]

Looked into Dragonrider Bow and it's seriously lacking for a pure Bow build. The strength it had for alternate weapon sniping (powerful single hits) is just worthless if that's your main damage source. It pulls nearly as slowly as a Greatbow and I can only get two shots instead of 3. The damage is higher but not enough to justify using it.

After looking about, I guess I'm using the Shortbow until end game. Craziness.

Blackbow + the archery cap from Ivory King should be a laugh though once I finally get it.

[chainer1216]

theres a ring in the new DLC that is completely dickish, it makes you look like the host if you are a phantom.

last night i was sunbroing the throne defender/watcher and nashandra fight when i get summoned, i see a host, and another phantom, i start heading to the kings door when the "host" backstabbes me, we then fight, but i wasn't ready for this and they were buffed and i got killed, both "host" and "phantom" pull out channelers and do the dance.

so the "host" was a summoned bloodbro wearing this new ring, and the "phantom" was the host wearing a white ring.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Guys I could use some help for a Theme build that I plan to use for the DLC areas, the theme I want to go with is a Black Dragon Mage, the idea is to rock the Dragon covenant armour set; still not sure about the weapon, I'm partial to the dragon straight sword, but I'm not opposed to using the other ones; my main issue with them being the stat requirement. As for the magical part of the build I'm debating whether going straight hexer or a mix of sorcery and hexes.

[Rodin]

theres a ring in the new DLC that is completely dickish, it makes you look like the host if you are a phantom.

last night i was sunbroing the throne defender/watcher and nashandra fight when i get summoned, i see a host, and another phantom, i start heading to the kings door when the "host" backstabbes me, we then fight, but i wasn't ready for this and they were buffed and i got killed, both "host" and "phantom" pull out channelers and do the dance.

so the "host" was a summoned bloodbro wearing this new ring, and the "phantom" was the host wearing a white ring.

That is both awful and hilarious. I actually have to give props for the idea, I never would have thought of that.

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Now that I've got Iron/Fire arrows my build is starting to really pay off. I no longer have to use my Rapier at all for most fights since the quick 3-volley from the Short Bow stunlocks most enemies.

Was dreading the Smelter Demon when I got there, but thought that I could summon Lucatiel and she would tank while I pumped Poison Arrows into it. No biggie, right?

Go into the boss arena with Lucatiel stood behind me. I'm fighting the Smelter Demon, waiting for the WOOSH of a second person entering the fog. Nothing.

Lucatiel?

Smelter Demon lights himself on fire. I've got him poisoned but it isn't doing near enough damage.

LUCATIEL!?!?

Smelter Demon lights his sword on fire. Where the hell is my support?

LUCATIEEEEEEEEEEEEL!!!!!!

[Surrealistik]

Guys I could use some help for a Theme build that I plan to use for the DLC areas, the theme I want to go with is a Black Dragon Mage, the idea is to rock the Dragon covenant armour set; still not sure about the weapon, I'm partial to the dragon straight sword, but I'm not opposed to using the other ones; my main issue with them being the stat requirement. As for the magical part of the build I'm debating whether going straight hexer or a mix of sorcery and hexes.

Magic Ice Rapier is mandatory IMO given that the damage of its projectile scales with the weapon's magic AR and the projectile now discharges faster than you can cast most projectile spells.

An Enchanted/Magic Bloodied Whip and Magic/Enchanted Shortbow are also excellent choices I use on my mage.

Also I'd go Sorcery exclusively; Heavy Homing Soul Arrow, Soul Flash, Homing Crystal Soulmass and Soul Shower all backed by a Stone Ring so they stagger without fail.

[TechnOkami]

I know that Lucatiel feel bro.

[Rodin]

Beat the Ivory King DLC's first boss with nothing but the Hunter's Blackbow at SL90. Feeling rather accomplished!

On the other hand, I now officially hate spearmen. Shields always up so my arrows do scratch damage, fast jab attacks that are hard to dodge and sweep attacks that are even harder to avoid. Normally I'd just put my shield up and laugh at them, but no shield means lots of Estus getting used. Worst part is, if I do manage to dodge I can't even punish with a backstab!

I've taken to just using Fire Arrows and burning them down through their shield. Expensive, but worth it if it saves my life.

Just need my hat to complete my build, and I also want to grab Flynn's Ring since there's hugely conflicting information on whether it actually increases Bow damage or not.

[Surrealistik]

I really like what it does to the lore, too. The content in the sunken city itself doesn't seem to relate to the main plot much, but the conversations with Vendrick, especially after obtaining the Crown of the Sunken King and Vendrick's crown are interesting.

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I wonder if the 'true form of men' he mentions refers to Hollows or the Abyssal monstrosities we saw in Oolacile. We do seem to keep running into pieces of Manus - Nashandra, and now Elana.

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Not quite sure; no matter which of these outcomes are true though, they're all bad news bears.

The process of Hollowing/curse of undeath might in actuality be the phenomena of the Dark Soul attempting to reform back into a whole, departing their human hosts when given the opportunity; while the First Flame is strong, it's able to prevent the 'leakage' of humanity and this consolidation, which would explain why the curse reasserts itself as it wanes, and why rekindling the First Flame temporarily allays it. Death and despondency appear to weaken humans enough to permit humanity to escape/bleed out.

This theory is consistent with my prior idea that Kaathe and his Darkwraiths pursue humanity in hopes of gathering enough shards to reform the Dark Soul and augur the return of the Dark Lord. It also appears to be consistent with the shards of Manus that have become large enough to gain sentience; the Darklurker demands an oblation of humanity to access the old chasm (you no longer need to sacrifice humanity to access the chasm when it is destroyed), Nashandra drains it from you in the final fight via her curse motes/rays (it's notable that the 'curse' status refers to the draining or loss of humanity), as do Nadalia's Ashen Idol phylacteries and the Pursuers. Between the living humanities in the Abyss and the fact that these shards possess sentience suggests that all fragments of the Dark Soul, including those invested in humanity at large, may possess some kind of nascent will or instinct, especially that to merge with other fragments.

I will note too that each sentient fragment of Manus appears to embody some specific aspect him; Nadalia was his loneliness, Nashandra his greed, Elana his wrath, and Alsanna his fear. These appear to be roughly consistent with the emotions the Princess of Dusk spoke of: "I still think on that creature from the Abyss that preyed upon me. My faculties were far from lucid, but I quite clearly sensed certain emotions. !!! A wrenching nostalgia, a lost joy, an object of obsession, and a sincere hope to reclaim it…!!! Could these thoughts belong to the beast from the Abyss? But if that were true, then perhaps it is no beast after all? Oh, please forgive my ramblings. It's just that, I wish to know the truth. And no one, not even loving Elizabeth, will tell me."

[Tengu_temp]

Interesting theory. This is related.

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So, the ending of DS1 is pretty much you deciding do you want to prevent Darkstrumentality or go with it? CONGRATULATIONS!

[Morty]

Spoiler: More Speculation; spoilered just in case

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Interesting thinking. All in all, I think it's becoming more likely that Manus was indeed the Furtive Pygmy, who probably got far more than he'd bargained for when he claimed the Dark Soul. It would also explain why Dark-related creatures and objects have a tendency to drain humanity - Dark attracts Dark. Not sure what it means for the theory that the Dark Soul was the fuel for the First Flame, and its removal is the reason why it started to fade.

This gets me thinking about other, non-human sapient beings populating the Dark Souls world. Maybe all the others were created by this god or that, with the exception of the primeval Lords, who gained sapience by themselves, by finding the Lord Souls in the Flame. Humanity is unique in that they were created, and continued propagate themselves, without such involvement, when the Dark Soul was split. They appear like stunted, imperfect images of the Lords (well, some of them), but there's something nasty lurking inside. Or maybe races like the Gyrm or the Lion Warriors, and others I may be forgetting, are offshoots of humanity. Grandahl mentions that humanity was once at one with the Dark, and it terrified Gwyn so much he chose to use himself as fuel for the Fire rather than let it run its course. Although the Fenito themselves are implied to have been created by Nito.

The Primordial Serpents, of course, remain conspicuously absent. Enigmatic blighters.

[GloatingSwine]

Spoiler: More Speculation; spoilered just in case

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This gets me thinking about other, non-human sapient beings populating the Dark Souls world. Maybe all the others were created by this god or that, with the exception of the primeval Lords, who gained sapience by themselves, by finding the Lord Souls in the Flame. Humanity is unique in that they were created, and continued propagate themselves, without such involvement, when the Dark Soul was split.

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Not sure that holds, because who are the "gods". The only ones we know about are ones which are associated with Gwyn and their divinity comes from the power of one of the Lord Souls.

The original Dark Souls intro says that "they came from the Dark", Gwyn and his Knights, the Witch of Izalith and her daughters, Nito, and the Furtive Pygmy all emerged from the the Dark and found the souls of Lords within the fire.

In other words, they were preexisting beings which empowered themselves with the fire (or in the case of the Pygmy, the Dark Soul).

It implies that at least humans and giants existed in the age of Ancients, before the coming of Fire, because Gwyn's knights include both (Artorias, Ciaran, and Ornstein are humans, Gough is a giant).

Which also indicates that the Furtive Pygmy did not "create" humans, they already existed, but did split the Dark Soul amongst them and when Kaathe calls the Pygmy "Your progenitor" he's actually saying that he created the Undead, or at least the potential to become Undead as the fire failed, by spreading the Dark Soul among humanity.

[Tengu_temp]

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Were Artorias, Ciaran, Ornstein and other human knights there when the Lords waged war against the dragons? Because I was under the impression that they only appeared later, and that at the time of the war against the dragons, the Furtive Pygmy was the only human - and he was called a pygmy because of how small he was in comparison to the giant Lords.

[GloatingSwine]

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Were Artorias, Ciaran, Ornstein and other human knights there when the Lords waged war against the dragons? Because I was under the impression that they only appeared later,

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I'm fairly sure they don't call him "Dragonslayer" Ornstein for the giggles :P. Explicitly yes, the Knights of Gwyn fought against the dragons, including the four named ones who probably rose to prominence among the knights due to their actions in that war (Dragonslayer Ornstein was the captain of the knights).

We knights fought valiantly, but for every one of them, we lost three score of our own.
Exhiliration, pride, hatred, rage… The dragons teased out our dearest emotions.

Their lives are most likely extended by the gift of power from Gwyn's lord soul (the Lord Souls can be subdivided and shared without losing their intensity just like the Dark Soul, as we know from Seath and the Four Kings)

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and that at the time of the war against the dragons, the Furtive Pygmy was the only human - and he was called a pygmy because of how small he was in comparison to the giant Lords.

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Are the Lords all that giant? Gwyn isn't significantly taller than the Undead, and certainly much smaller than giants like Gough or Smough. (Though obviously size in gameplay isn't necessarily representative of the real size of a person, Sif is way larger as a boss than an NPC, Artorias is huge when fought but Ciaran is roughly normal NPC size, etc.)

The more likely explanation is that at the very least Gwyn and the Witch of Izalith were human and the power of the Lord Souls they took made them immortal.

[Surrealistik]

Gwyn and his knights certainly aren't human, and I would doubt the witches of Isalith are either. It may also be that the First Flame granted some or all of them life; while it's true they came out of the dark to claim the souls of lords after its ignition, that doesn't mean they weren't first invigorated by the flame.

Further, if humanity existed before the Dark Soul, it did so almost certainly as hollows. It's my view that they did not exist before the advent of fire. This appears to jive with the appearance of many hollow like creatures in front of the First Flame as seen in the prologue; a fledgling proto-humanity given life by the First Flame. My theory has always been that humans are of both fire and dark (and by dark, I mean the Dark Soul); fire (or more specifically soul energy that derives from fire) grants them life, dark gives them volition, sapience and will; either extreme is untenable to them. Humans without the dark are mindless hollows (as we've repeatedly seen throughout the game), humans without fire are little more than the drifting, quasi sentient specters of humanity seen in Oolacile's Abyss; just fragments of the Dark Soul. It plays nicely with the idea that all throughout the Souls games, they have been the kingmakers and scale tippers between the forces championing these two diametric opposites.

Strengthening this viewpoint is the fact that the Pygmy was the first, primeval human; the first union of fire and dark when he stumbled upon the Dark Soul.

Lastly, the Gods do indeed have the ability to create races (the Fenito, Milfanito), as do mortals through magical experimentation and manipulation of soul energies (see Aldia and Seath's experiments). On the subject of the latter, Manscorpion Tark and Scorpionness Najka are very heavily implied to be derived from Seath's experiments. The raven hybrids like Ornifex (though I admit, I am also persuaded by the idea that this is a race created by Velka; that said she does confirm that Brightstone Cove was previously inhabited by Seath) and the Lion Clan creatures (the Lion Clan is almost surely an artificially created race per their item descriptions) are also probably off-shoots of his experimentation, as is Priscilla.

[Morty]

Artorias and Ciaran weren't human. The cut dialogue for Artorias has him call the Chosen Undead human, and Elizabeth the mushroom says that he had 'nary a murmur of Dark'. Ciaran also calls the Chosen Undead a human, implying she's not human herself. So Ornstein probably wasn't human, either. What they were isn't certain - my personal theory is that they were essentially demigods, imbued by the Lords with powerful souls created from the First Flame. Some of them are larger than others - I imagine it's basically a measure of their power, maybe their own choice. Artorias and Ornstein were warriors, so they towered over humans. Ciaran was an assassin, so she was smaller. The giants like Gough, Smough and possibly the royal sentinels may have been a more common, 'lesser' class of servants the Lords created.

[GloatingSwine]

Gwyn and his knights certainly aren't human, and I would doubt the witches of Isalith are either. It may also be that the First Flame granted some or all of them life; while it's true they came out of the dark to claim the souls of lords after its ignition, that doesn't mean they weren't first invigorated by the flame.

Not any more, Gwyn empowered them with "special souls" (ie. fragments of his Lord Soul), but they were mortal* beings which identically resemble humans. Looks like a duck, goes quack. Probably not a goose.

*Artorias is explicitly mentioned as a mortal and hence needed to make a covenant with the "beasts of the abyss" to survive there.

Strengthening this viewpoint is the fact that the Pygmy was the first, primeval human; the first union of fire and dark when he stumbled upon the Dark Soul.

You say that's a fact, but it's not actually an evidenced fact that the Pygmy was the first human, and other humanlike entities definitely did exist when the first flame came into being. The Furtive Pygmy was the first holder of the Dark Soul and the progenitor of all other beings which have fragments thereof. Remember that the description of the "Humanity" item says that it is called Humanity but that its true nature is unknown.

Lastly, the Gods do indeed have the ability to create races (the Fenito, Milfanito), as do mortals through magical experimentation and manipulation of soul energies (see Aldia and Seath's experiments). On the subject of the latter, Manscorpion Tark and Scorpionness Najka are very heavily implied to be derived from Seath's experiments. The raven hybrids like Ornifex (though I admit, I am also persuaded by the idea that this is a race created by Velka; that said she does confirm that Brightstone Cove was previously inhabited by Seath) and the Lion Clan creatures (the Lion Clan is almost surely an artificially created race per their item descriptions) are also probably off-shoots of his experimentation, as is Priscilla.

But again, those are creations of beings with a Lord Soul or part of one. That doesn't demonstrate the existence of "gods" seperate from the Lord Souls, which is what you implied.

The cut dialogue for Artorias has him call the Chosen Undead human, and Elizabeth the mushroom says that he had 'nary a murmur of Dark'. Ciaran also calls the Chosen Undead a human, implying she's not human herself.

Relying on cut content is super weak because, well, it's cut content. There's a reason it's not in the game, after all.

[Tengu_temp]

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Are the Lords all that giant? Gwyn isn't significantly taller than the Undead, and certainly much smaller than giants like Gough or Smough. (Though obviously size in gameplay isn't necessarily representative of the real size of a person, Sif is way larger as a boss than an NPC, Artorias is huge when fought but Ciaran is roughly normal NPC size, etc.)

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Gwyn seems to be around 8 feet tall, which seems to be the default height for all Lords, assuming Artorias, Ciaran and Ornstein are also Lords, or whatever you'd like to call the race the Lords came from. That's still enough to call someone the size of an ordinary human small!

And Sif is larger in the current day than in the Artorias DLC because he's only a puppy back then.

There is something I've always been wondering - what is the relation between the Lords/gods of DS1 and the unnamed but obviously nonhuman (and likely possessing some kind of divine spark) very tall knights of DS2? And are the giants from DS1 the same race as the ones in DS2? We never see their faces in DS1, but Gough was said to be blinded - and we don't know if the DS2 giants even have eyes.

[Surrealistik]

Not any more, Gwyn empowered them with "special souls" (ie. fragments of his Lord Soul), but they were mortal* beings which identically resemble humans. Looks like a duck, goes quack. Probably not a goose.

*Artorias is explicitly mentioned as a mortal and hence needed to make a covenant with the "beasts of the abyss" to survive there.

We know for a fact that they're not human at least by the time of DS1 and onwards.

We don't know that they were humans, or that they predate the First Flame despite the fact that they resemble humans. Also, I'm not claiming that Gwyn's knights are immortal, only that they're not human.

I would be willing to contemplate that they might be humans that stumbled upon the power of the Lord Souls (and thus godhood/divinity) after being given life by the First Flame, but it seems unlikely that they are humans as they would have first have to be given sentience by the Dark Soul; it is canon fact that humans without humanity are mindless hollows. A possible alternative however is that the Lord Soul is also able to grant sentience.

You say that's a fact, but it's not actually an evidenced fact that the Pygmy was the first human, and other humanlike entities definitely did exist when the first flame came into being. The Furtive Pygmy was the first holder of the Dark Soul and the progenitor of all other beings which have fragments thereof. Remember that the description of the "Humanity" item says that it is called Humanity but that its true nature is unknown.

The Pygmy is at a bare minimum strongly implied to be the first human given his Primeval title; further, as previously mentioned, it is established that humans need humanity in order to be sentient. I'm not claiming that it's a fact, this is simply what I find to be most likely between the implications thus far provided and the absence of hard and clear evidence.

But again, those are creations of beings with a Lord Soul or part of one. That doesn't demonstrate the existence of "gods" seperate from the Lord Souls, which is what you implied.

I'm not personally concerned with whether godhood stems from the Lord Souls or not; in fact I personally think that Gwyn and the like owe their supposed godhood to the Lord Souls, though I am not convinced of their humanity. In this paragraph I was just expanding on the canon fact that races can certainly be created by gods.

[Morty]

Relying on cut content is super weak because, well, it's cut content. There's a reason it's not in the game, after all.

Ciaran calling the Chosen 'human' and Elizabeth referring to Artorias as having no Dark in him aren't cut content.

There is something I've always been wondering - what is the relation between the Lords/gods of DS1 and the unnamed but obviously nonhuman (and likely possessing some kind of divine spark) very tall knights of DS2?

Like I mentioned, my theory is that they're all demigods or small gods, given souls by Gwyn.

And are the giants from DS1 the same race as the ones in DS2? We never see their faces in DS1, but Gough was said to be blinded - and we don't know if the DS2 giants even have eyes.

The shape of their bodies doesn't match, either. It's one of the bigger mysteries of DS2. Maybe the giants from DS2 are the degenerate remnant of the Lords of Lordran?

A possible alternative however is that the Lord Soul is also able to grant sentience.

This is my personal interpretation. Before the advent of the Fire, the only sapient beings were the Everlasting Dragons. Afterwards, the Lords gained sapience upon finding the Lord Souls, and created servants for themselves. And the Pygmy created humanity with the Dark Soul, intentionally or not.

[TechnOkami]

One day I'll get those damn DLC's...

Perhaps when my next paycheck comes in...

[GloatingSwine]

I would be willing to contemplate that they might be humans that stumbled upon the power of the Lord Souls (and thus godhood/divinity) after being given life by the First Flame, but it seems unlikely that they are humans as they would have first have to be given sentience by the Dark Soul; it is canon fact that humans without humanity are mindless hollows. A possible alternative however is that the Lord Soul is also able to grant sentience.

We know that undead without a sufficiently large fragment of the Dark Soul become hollowed (hollows can have tiny amounts, hence the occasional Humanity reward from killing), but not all humans are undead, and we don't know what happens to humans that aren't because everyone we meet in Lordran and Drangleic is already undead.

The Pygmy is at a bare minimum strongly implied to be the first human given his Primeval title; further, as previously mentioned, it is established that humans need humanity in order to be sentient. I'm not claiming that it's a fact, this is simply what I find to be most between the implications thus far provided and the absence of hard and clear evidence.

Primeval doesn't necessarily mean "the first", it more likely means "from the earliest times", ie he's one of the primeval humans which existed in the Dark before the coming of fire, the only difference between him and the other Lords is which soul he claimed and the effect it had on him.

[Surrealistik]

We know that undead without a sufficiently large fragment of the Dark Soul become hollowed (hollows can have tiny amounts, hence the occasional Humanity reward from killing), but not all humans are undead, and we don't know what happens to humans that aren't because everyone we meet in Lordran and Drangleic is already undead.

What is true is that all humans have humanity or a fragment of the Dark Soul and that in the prologue, stumbling aimless looking hollows were seen about the First Flame; a time that predates the fragmenting of the Dark Soul. It is also notable that humanity is repeatedly said to descend from the Dark Soul while being identified as the Pygmy's descendant. I think it's most likely that undead or not, a human without humanity is effectively hollowed per mankind's original state in the prologue.

Primeval doesn't necessarily mean "the first", it more likely means "from the earliest times", ie he's one of the primeval humans which existed in the Dark before the coming of fire, the only difference between him and the other Lords is which soul he claimed and the effect it had on him.

Yes, Primeval can also mean 'from the earliest times' instead of the first, but as mentioned, it's the implication I'm going on; I've admitted there are no concrete facts that indisputably place him as the first human, though the implication that he is is rife throughout the series as he is the only one referred to as the ancestor of man, while humanity is said to be his descendent; never Gwyn or the others by contrast. This ties into the Dark Soul being essential to the nature of humanity.

In balance, it is entirely possible, even probable in my view, that humanity and the gods originate from the same hollow like being, but there is a distinction between them in that the gods (and witches) descend from the First Flame and Lord Souls whereas humans descend from the First Flame and the Dark Soul. The gods have never been human, but share their beginnings with humanity.

This is my personal interpretation. Before the advent of the Fire, the only sapient beings were the Everlasting Dragons. Afterwards, the Lords gained sapience upon finding the Lord Souls, and created servants for themselves. And the Pygmy created humanity with the Dark Soul, intentionally or not.

Agreed. I do think this is the most likely origin of the gods and their servants. Humanity and the gods are different races with common origins. Further, it is implied that even the gods can go hollow when the origin of their sentience, the Lord Soul, is lost per Gwyn when his power was consumed by the First Flame, reducing him to a diminished, mindless husk. This also suggests, albeit indirectly, that humans, undead or otherwise, would need the Dark Soul to retain sentience.

[Tengu_temp]

The shape of their bodies doesn't match, either. It's one of the bigger mysteries of DS2. Maybe the giants from DS2 are the degenerate remnant of the Lords of Lordran?

The giants came from beyond the sea, so if Lordran and Drangleic are the same place then that sounds rather unlikely. So does my idea that they might be the same giants as the DS1 ones, for the matter.

One idea I had at some point is that Heide's Tower is related to Anor Londo. The architecture is very similar, and there are ancient giant knights everywhere, guarding the place for a reason long forgotten. Although the location couldn't be more different...

[Surrealistik]

Don't forget that Ornifex basically outright states that Seath inhabited Brightstone Tseldora ages ago, which would make it roughly the location of the Duke's Archives/Crystal Caves, or at least in the vicinity of Lordran.

"It is said that our technique originates from a strange being that inhabited this land.
A pale beast that lived long, long ago. We don't even know what exactly it was."

[Morty]

I was under the impression that Lordran and Drangleic had been confirmed to be two different places. But I may have been mistaken, or the creators may have been lying. *points to the pendant starting gift* However, we know that some gods left Lordran after Gwyn sacrificed himself to link the Fire. So the giants that invaded Drangleic may have been connected to them.

[GloatingSwine]

I was under the impression that Lordran and Drangleic had been confirmed to be two different places. But I may have been mistaken, or the creators may have been lying. *points to the pendant starting gift* However, we know that some gods left Lordran after Gwyn sacrificed himself to link the Fire. So the giants that invaded Drangleic may have been connected to them.

There are a fair number of things in DS2 that indicate that Drangleic is in the same place Lordran used to be, but is ages later, as in many kingdoms long forgotten have risen and fallen in the intevening time.

Of course, it's hard to determine how long anything was in Dark Souls.

[TechnOkami]

Ok, here's another question about the DLC's:

Does it make a difference whether you're on Playthrough #1 or Playthrough +?

I only ask because I remember that things change in terms of enemies, events, bosses, etc. for Playthrough + with no DLC Dark Souls II, and I'm wondering if there will be a significant enough difference that I would want to, say, start a character from scratch, go through the main game AND the DLC's the first time around, or continue on my merry way in Playthrough +.

[Dusk Eclipse]

I know there are a couple of black phantom enemies that only appear in NG+, but other than that I'm not sure.