Elden Ring - Shadow of the Erdtree Expansion Announced

[robdood]

Also, amazing scenes with the hack doing the rounds on PC version, your save file gets altered in such a way that you spawn out of bounds forever, even after dying. 

 

[dug]

After over 100 hours of this game, I've finally decided to go into the capital. It's... overwhelming. With the previous legacy dungeons I've managed to make a mental note of where there are multiple ways to go, so after exploring one avenue, I know where to go to explore another. Of course, I expect I've missed plenty of stuff, but it at least feels like I've properly done Stormveil and the Academy. The capital though, there's just too much. Too many places, too many ways to go. I can't keep it all in my head. I think I'm going to have to resort to just not worrying about it, picking a path and following it.

 

I'm going to miss so much.

[5R7]

1 hour ago, Alan Stock said:

 

Yeah I still don't have any blunt weapons above level 0 due to the smithing stone issue . Too hard to keep up with the thread with real life getting in the way!

 

Now I have so many weapons I can give a fair shot. I really wanted to try the whips, the one that looks like an unfurling sword is really cool (Urumi), as well as twinblades, a skeleton hand and some spears to try out. Time to get spending!

you dont need a + weapon to kill the boss of that cave, you can use the mace that you can buy from the roundtable, or, the starting wretch club.

 

 Its just a case of that type of enemy is very weak to strike damage. much like others are weak to other things.

 

Basically, i keep a strike weapon handy! for close encounters

[Jamie John]

27 minutes ago, dug said:

After over 100 hours of this game, I've finally decided to go into the capital. It's... overwhelming. With the previous legacy dungeons I've managed to make a mental note of where there are multiple ways to go, so after exploring one avenue, I know where to go to explore another. Of course, I expect I've missed plenty of stuff, but it at least feels like I've properly done Stormveil and the Academy. The capital though, there's just too much. Too many places, too many ways to go. I can't keep it all in my head. I think I'm going to have to resort to just not worrying about it, picking a path and following it.

 

I'm going to miss so much.

 

Having just done the capital over the last couple of days, it's not quite as labyrinthine as it first appears, and you spend so long there that before too long you begin to map it out in your head. You will naturally break it down into sections, too, and there are a fair number of grace points and shortcuts.

[Davros sock drawer]

Re. Crafting, going by the comments in this thread I must be alone in using it a lot. I don’t go out of my way to search for ingredients but if I’ve got enough beast bones for some arrows, I’m crafting me some fun arrows! I’m also crafting a lot of status ailment cures, as although I have Cure poison for example, I’m running a very low FP build, and I need that for my Ash of War and Jellyfish summons. I’ll happily nom a Pickled Turtle Neck for boosted stamina recovery, or lob a few fire pots just to mix things up. Poison string grease + Jellyfish did a good job of rapidly poisoning the mid level boss of Volcano Manor, and secured the win for me. Could I have done it without? Yeah, maybe after a few more tries. But this let me move on in a more creative and smart way.
 

It is a very, very optional aspect of the game, but I think it’s quite fun personally. Some of the items are pretty powerful too, such as the various Darts and throwing knives. Give them a go! 

[Davros sock drawer]

6 minutes ago, 5R7 said:

you dont need a + weapon to kill the boss of that cave, you can use the mace that you can buy from the roundtable, or, the starting wretch club.

 

 Its just a case of that type of enemy is very weak to strike damage. much like others are weak to other things.

 

Basically, i keep a strike weapon handy! for close encounters

Was about to say this. I cleared that boss with an un-upgraded hammer, which hit them much harder than my upgraded Zweihander  

[5R7]

2 minutes ago, Davros sock drawer said:

Re. Crafting, going by the comments in this thread I must be alone in using it a lot. I don’t go out of my way to search for ingredients but if I’ve got enough beast bones for some arrows, I’m crafting me some fun arrows! I’m also crafting a lot of status ailment cures, as although I have Cure poison for example, I’m running a very low FP build, and I need that for my Ash of War and Jellyfish summons. I’ll happily nom a Pickled Turtle Neck for boosted stamina recovery, or lob a few fire pots just to mix things up. Poison string grease + Jellyfish did a good job of rapidly poisoning the mid level boss of Volcano Manor, and secured the win for me. Could I have done it without? Yeah, maybe after a few more tries. But this let me move on in a more creative and smart way.
 

It is a very, very optional aspect of the game, but I think it’s quite fun personally. Some of the items are pretty powerful too, such as the various Darts and throwing knives. Give them a go! 

yeah, i was crafting the good arrows and bolts all the way thorugh! once you can make poison / scarlot rot, and bleed. fuck yeah!

 

[dug]

I must admit I don't use the crafting much, but it's nice to have the option. And it will definitely make Lobos's inevitable consumable only run much more viable than in previous Soulsbornes.

[moosegrinder]

From now on I shall not be called Geniveve, but Necrotia Hellshreik.

 

Spoiler

 

Also remember what I said a couple of weeks ago about wielding arms?

 

Spoiler

 

I was right. It IS metal as fuck.

[robdood]

And we going live again! links in sig  More big boi action, come say hi! 

[joemul]

39 minutes ago, Davros sock drawer said:

Re. Crafting, going by the comments in this thread I must be alone in using it a lot. I don’t go out of my way to search for ingredients but if I’ve got enough beast bones for some arrows, I’m crafting me some fun arrows! I’m also crafting a lot of status ailment cures, as although I have Cure poison for example, I’m running a very low FP build, and I need that for my Ash of War and Jellyfish summons. I’ll happily nom a Pickled Turtle Neck for boosted stamina recovery, or lob a few fire pots just to mix things up. Poison string grease + Jellyfish did a good job of rapidly poisoning the mid level boss of Volcano Manor, and secured the win for me. Could I have done it without? Yeah, maybe after a few more tries. But this let me move on in a more creative and smart way.
 

It is a very, very optional aspect of the game, but I think it’s quite fun personally. Some of the items are pretty powerful too, such as the various Darts and throwing knives. Give them a go! 

Can you remember where you found the crafting recipe to cure poison? I’m up to Altus but just have missed it. 

[Davros sock drawer]

2 minutes ago, joemul said:

Can you remember where you found the crafting recipe to cure poison? I’m up to Altus but just have missed it. 

Right near the start -

 

 

Spoiler

Merchant near Coastal Cave

 

[Petrousgyre]

8 hours ago, Sun Tze said:

It's brilliant. Would really like to see From's attempt at a Thief game. 

 

 

They've made that already, released it nearly a year ahead of the original Thief too. Clever From.

[Uzi]

Annnnnd done. 85 hours. Level 151. Saw every (large) optional area. Did not do every optional cave/catacombs/boss but felt like I saw enough of the world to see the credits.

 

The last boss was definitely a visual spectacle. Wowee. I know Miyazaki was saying the graphics of PS5 Demon's Souls made them go "oh my" for it a but, but that boss like many other moments of the game was simply an artistic and visual delight to witness. 

 

As for the game, will need it to decompress for a little while but it was incredible. No other world gave me such a sense of awe and wonder of discovery and fear of the unknown and what horrors could await at the same time. I think the nerds who don't like this are dumb outta 10. 

[joemul]

14 minutes ago, Davros sock drawer said:

Right near the start -

 

 

  Hide contents

Merchant near Coastal Cave

 

Ah bloody hell…!

[Majora]

1 hour ago, Uzi said:

Annnnnd done. 85 hours. Level 151. 

 

 

Jesus. How?! I'm like level 60 at 80 hours and have only done two main dungeons.

[Captain Kelsten]

1 hour ago, Uzi said:

Annnnnd done. 85 hours. Level 151. Saw every (large) optional area. Did not do every optional cave/catacombs/boss but felt like I saw enough of the world to see the credits.

 

The last boss was definitely a visual spectacle. Wowee. I know Miyazaki was saying the graphics of PS5 Demon's Souls made them go "oh my" for it a but, but that boss like many other moments of the game was simply an artistic and visual delight to witness. 

 

As for the game, will need it to decompress for a little while but it was incredible. No other world gave me such a sense of awe and wonder of discovery and fear of the unknown and what horrors could await at the same time. I think the nerds who don't like this are dumb outta 10. 

What build are you? The last boss is shite for melee/strength  

[Triple A]

So I made it to 

Spoiler

Nokron.  Done this plus some surrounding areas.  Called it a night on my getting my arse handed to me by a souped-up crucible knight optional boss.  I just love how they toy with your expectation re level design - ‘so you think you’re done with the underground stuff huh?  Check this out!’.  And how the game makes you think you’re so smart to jump onto some ‘obscure’ building ledge or tree branch, and that you outsmarted the designers, but of course they’ve been funnelling you their way the whole time!  Incredible stuff.

 

[pinholestar]

1 hour ago, Doctor Shark said:

What build are you? The last boss is shite for melee/strength  

I was a sorcerer with long-range options a go-go and found the last boss a right slog, so I can’t imagine what a bummer it would be with a melee build. Hell of a lot of running around involved, I’d imagine.

[Captain Kelsten]

5 minutes ago, pinholestar said:

I was a sorcerer with long-range options a go-go and found the last boss a right slog, so I can’t imagine what a bummer it would be with a melee build. Hell of a lot running around involved, I’d imagine.

Yeah. Soon as you get to it (burning all your stamina in the process) he zooms across the other side, or you spend 90 seconds running away from his homing missiles. 

[kensei]

So after getting my ass repeatedly handed to me by floating Crucible Knights, I understand why they are a nightmare for my strength build.

 

The entire build is based on 1. Stun 2. Poise 3. Closing distance. Crucible Knights do not get interrupted. You can hit with a two Colossal Sword Dual attack and they will not flinch. Instead they'll pile on in probably with a combo or worse a fucking instakill grab. On the flip side, they seem to poise wreck me even in heavy armour. They also have huuuuuuuuge range on the their weapons which makes closing distance hard.

 

Greatshield? They have a lot of attack combos many of which are similar so you don't know if it's a two hit or three hit. And they can still bust the endurance bar because they hit like a truck. Barricade has been nerfed, so only five seconds which may or may not cover a stupid combo.

 

And that's why having boss enemies floating about as normal enemies is zero craic. When From put Taurus Demons out and about in Dark Souls, you could at least stun lock them and take them in two hits at that point. 

[pinholestar]

6 minutes ago, Doctor Shark said:

Yeah. Soon as you get to it (burning all your stamina in the process) he zooms across the other side, or you spend 90 seconds running away from his homing missiles. 

End boss tactics spoiler:

 

Spoiler

You’re probably aware of this already but it can’t hurt to mention: I found the only really reliable window of opportunity to do damage to him was when he did the purple galactic breath thing. I’d run to the side while he was doing it and then hit him with my most powerful stuff because it’s one of the few times he’s static and it’s easy enough to avoid. Everything else I just dodged as best I could and waited for that move of his to come round again.

 

Visually stunning fight but mechanically not great and the way he constantly moves fucking miles away from you is really annoying.

 

[Qazimod]

7 hours ago, Qazimod said:

Took a look at BC/MtBB. Seems pretty nasty, but initial attempts aren't quite as hopeless as GD before. I feel like the speed is going to be a nightmare for my slow Strength boi - I only have a few small windows to get a hit in when it's in the middle of a recovery animation - and a lot of the moves it has get chained into other moves. I think it's going to involve a lot of "roll through the attack and do a single poke" to begin with...

 

Gah, I must have been one swing away (and still with three flasks) but the ground-stab-into-AoE-slashes got me. Definitely do-able (and far less stressful than GD), but each attempt needs a lot of patience. Next week. Maybe.

[Davros sock drawer]

Took out the horsey chap blocking my way into the capital tonight and now very much enjoying his weapon. I hadn’t used any Sombre Stones, so I was able to get it up to +7 immediately, at which it is easily out performing the Zweihander. Satisfying!

 

The capital itself is just jaw dropping.

 

130 hours played and it just keeps getting better and better.

[Uzi]

2 hours ago, Majora said:

 

Jesus. How?! I'm like level 60 at 80 hours and have only done two main dungeons.

To be honest I took my sweet time but I think this might explain the gap in levels and hours some people have had in comparison to me.

 

- I played through as a mage and not only is magic really strong in this (until late game) but the earliest spell you get can carry you through the early areas with ease

- The early areas give fuck all runes. Which means if you spend a tonne of time there early on, you level up really slowly while hours tick away. I didn't see half of weeping peninsula until late game when I realised I hadn't picked up the map there!

- I went through stormveil castle relatively early and after a few stints in castle morne and the the other main fort in early game, I spent time getting to Caelid and the Lakes areas pretty early and then on to Atlus which meant I was levelling up pretty quickly.

- This meant I was swimming in runes and I very rarely lost a huge chunk of them and magic destroyed a lot of early to mid game bosses meant I rarely got stuck in an area.

- I didn't spend time doing the known rune farms as thats boring but if i was near a level up I would kill some high level enemies for 5 mins to bank that level instead of risking it

 

In the last ten or so hours bosses were dropping 100-200k runes too. 

[footle]

Everytime I think I have a handle on how big this is, another massive area appears.

Sometimes I’m over levelled for them though.

 

Continued Ranni’s quest tonight. Kept getting distracted.

[Uzi]

2 hours ago, Doctor Shark said:

What build are you? The last boss is shite for melee/strength  

60 vit/40 mind/30 end/18 dex/12 str/80 int lol

 

Magic plus a magic weilding mimic made short work of it. Did it first try.

[Captain Kelsten]

1 minute ago, Uzi said:

60 vit/40 mind/25 end/18 dex/12 str/80 int lol

 

Magic plus a magic weilding mimic made short work of it. Did it first try.

Fuck sake. I’ve had about 30 goes and never got the stupid fucker past half health. By the time I get to it it buggers off, or spams shit I have to run away from constantly. It’s utter gash. 
 

It’s definitely spoiling the game for me. It’s not fun, or clever, it’s just a massive slog. 

[PeteJ]

Those burger king fellas in the Academy are fecking annoying. The stunlock of the Pebble magic is a right sod, now I know how the enemies feel. 

 

Tonight I:

- Killed the first horsey knight you meet out of the gate at the start of the game

Killed the big dragon at the start of the game

 

- Did the locked dungeon right at the start of the game...killed the boss but couldn't do one room with two of the first enemy that killed most of us at the start of the game. The summon you get from the boss might be my main now, at least changing it up from Jelly. 

 

-Entered the academy for the first time, seems like a lot to explore, just picked a random path and went for it!

 

 

[robdood]