Elden Ring - Shadow of the Erdtree Expansion Announced

[robdood]

All 165 bosses speedrun... 11 realtime hours

 

 

[KartoffelKopf]

New levels of hilarity tonight. 
 

Alecto. 
 

Fucks sake From, what are you thinking?

 

After yet another Ulcerated Tree asshole and constant rot in LoR. Easily the least enjoyable evening I’ve had in quite a while. 
 

The sense of relief coming out of LoR on to ‘that’ area was palpable, especially after spanking the great boss there on my first go, but then….another constantly spinning, unblockable, never ending attacking, looking for the millisecond to attack enemy. 
 

Bloody love this game but the balance is so off the chart sometimes. 
 

edit:

 

Spoiler

 

 

[scottcr]

Mohg Lord of Blood can fuck off. I think I hate this game as much as I love it. 

[jonamok]

@KartoffelKopf That’s exactly how I cheesed Alecto too. No Ragrets.

[KartoffelKopf]

Not a single one. I was spamming RB so hard I didn’t even stop for the critical. 

[MansizeRooster]

This game has a weird effect of really depressing me and lowering my mood. I think I might need to step away from it for a while. I've played it tonight whilst alone in the house and I now feel this really bad feeling - almost like a sense of dread and like something is going wrong.

[KartoffelKopf]

I think I know what you mean. It’s been a bit of an obsession for me these last couple of weeks, but it’s nebulous feeling of overwhelming oppression and dread might actually be too much considering it’s size. 
 

Don’t think it would be an unhealthy choice to just go play something else for a bit, particularly as it’s difficulty for me has ratcheted up a notch and it’s been a cycle of contempt and elation the last couple of days as I hit walls and then stagger through them. I’ve been mostly doing all underground areas too and that hasn’t helped. I really feel I need to physically get outside and breathe. 
 

I genuinely think it’s a masterpiece and the feelings it evokes are testament to its place as a piece of art. However, I’m 90 hours in and I think I could conceivably come back and do from Altus Plateau (where I’m now at) as a kind of pretend sequel in a few weeks. 
 

I’m not going to though, I think I like the pain. 

[viewtiful jim]

8 hours ago, Uncle Nasty said:

 

 

What Seal and upgrades were you both using for casting Lightning Spear? Any additional buffs/Talismans? For range I found the bow so much more reliable and powerful than casting Lightning Spear.

 

My Faith is at 60 but I'm just not seeing the benefits of it. Even the late game Faith stuff is only okay. Maybe I've been spoiled by the Wyrm sword which is dealing around 1500 damage per hit.

Use the Gravel Stone seal and the Jelly fish shield for the ATK/ DMG buff.

As for talismans:

Ritual sword.

Canvas Flock.

Godfrey Icon.

Lightning Scorpion.

 

Wonderous Physick:

Cracked lightning tear and whatever you want for the second. Though you can’t do no harm having additional faith damage.

For testing I went to old faithful and the Omens under Lyendell as they have 0% resistance against Magic/ Fire/ Lightning/ Holy damage according to the wiki.

Gravel Stone Seal +25 with the above talismans/ wonderous physick setup and Faith at 63 (ordinarily 60, but 2 points were from helm and 1 from chest piece)

Fully charged shots:

No buff: 1484

Jellyfish shield only: 1780

Golden Vow only: 1706

Jellyfish & Golden Vow: 2048

All of the above and wonderous physick with lightning DMG and Faith DMG: 2613

 

Pimp my video time:

Spoiler

 

 

for reference:

On normal game

Soul level 120

Faith at 63 (2 from helmet and 1 from chest)

40 vigor

30 mind

17 stamina

20 strength 

14 dex

 

[Hawklord]

3 hours ago, robdood said:

Due to huge life upheaval I haven't made much progress in this recently, though did spend a few hours creeping through Haligtree this afternoon. 

 

  Hide contents

Finally got past this initial horrible tree branch section.. Wasn't expecting big ol legacy dungeon type thing! This place is enormous! Loving it. 

 

 

I loved the 2nd half. Wanted it to be longer

[Keyboard Koala]

1 hour ago, KartoffelKopf said:

New levels of hilarity tonight. 
 

Alecto. 

  Hide contents

 

 

Drops one of the most powerful/useful items in the entire game though.

 

Spoiler

Her daughter's ashes no less.

 

[Wiper]

Finally found my way into Leyndell tonight (having found both caves past it first, and explored them thoroughly in the hope they'd get me in. I am apparently completely inobservant), and had a nice time blasting through it. The whole area felt weirdly balanced: I spent a huge amount of time far from grace, but only ever felt in danger when facing the red, winged buggers who're nice and close to safety. Struggled with them (their one-hit kill knife attack was particularly 'fun'), and ran away from a large... Thing, in the lower levels, but then I got to the actual bosses and...

 

They were really easy? Like, far less deadly than the generic enemies I had to deal with on the way to them. Golden ghost and grumpy old man both died on first attempt, which was a little anticlimactic! And then, to make up for it, the longest, most stressful gap between graces that I've encountered in a long while before finally reaching the forbidden lands, and calling it a night.

 

On the plus side I finally had a boss drop a dex (and arcane!) weapon, so that was exciting. Though I'm a tiny bit tempted to respec and drop arcane for strength to try out the fancy spear I found. Decisions, decisions... 

 

Also, I saw that I've played this for 72 hours now; that puts this firmly in my most-played games list. 's not bad, this game! 

 

[Jamie John]

9 hours ago, Uncle Nasty said:

What Seal and upgrades were you both using for casting Lightning Spear? Any additional buffs/Talismans? For range I found the bow so much more reliable and powerful than casting Lightning Spear.

 

I used the Gravel Stone at +25, the extra faith talisman, the Lightning Scorpion talisman and the one which raises the power of incantations.

 

Lightning Spear was never as powerful as a charged R2, but you could fire them off more quickly, and from a fair distance away. Many were the boss battles where my mimic distracted with melee attacks while I just pelted from afar with lightning. Moreover, the enemy AI never seemed to know how to deal with me. Quite often I was able to literally just run away from them, throw a few lightning spears and then run away again when they closed the distance. Malenia, Alecto, Loretta, Radahn, Godskin Duo and a lot of others I was able to take out first time using this 'strategy'. I've mentioned this before, but it was too effective, if anything - made a lot of encounters anticlimactic.

[Davros sock drawer]

I popped into Limgrave for a couple of hours, to see how much of it I could clear without resting. I went right from the start, down along the cliffs where the bats are. Found a little area I’d never visited before, where Demi humans appear in a puff of smoke to ambush you. Otherwise I just went around in a big anti-clockwise loop until I found myself back at the start where…

 

The bats I’d killed were alive again.

 

I hadn’t rested, so this suggests they respawn. I’m guessing the day/night cycle triggers it? 

[dug]

6 minutes ago, Davros sock drawer said:

I popped into Limgrave for a couple of hours, to see how much of it I could clear without resting. I went right from the start, down along the cliffs where the bats are. Found a little area I’d never visited before, where Demi humans appear in a puff of smoke to ambush you. Otherwise I just went around in a big anti-clockwise loop until I found myself back at the start where…

 

The bats I’d killed were alive again.

 

I hadn’t rested, so this suggests they respawn. I’m guessing the day/night cycle triggers it? 

 

Interesting. I'd wondered if it was possible  to clear out the entire overworld (obviously it would be extremely difficult, given you'd have to do it without resting), or even just one section of the overworld. Or would the enemies just respawn? It seems the bats at least do respawn, then.

[smithstock]

Well, that's me finished with Elden Ring having gotten the platinum - I've only got Sekiro left to complete the From Software set. But I'm also debating going through to get the platinum on all of the rest, or doing a second run on with a vastly different playstyle (likely Magic, I did STR/END). 

 

The last time I was this infatuated with a game (outside of Yakuza 0) was The Witcher 3, and I think this sits right up there in the upper echelons of RPG greatness. I think it is simultaneously much more approachable and yet far more challenging than the others. Removing weapon breakage, adding a jump button, making fall damage much more forgiving, allowing you a co-op summon to land the killing blow on a boss just as you have died and it counting etc, the list goes on. 

 

I love the overt nods and influences to

Spoiler

Dark Souls II,

which houses my greatest memories. They managed to include a lot of fan service, yet outside of that, still remaining subversive to keep it fresh, whilst adding the sheer spectacle of some areas. It looks (and feels) a little rough still, but when it all clicks - there's nothing even remotely comparable out there. 

 

I thought the pacing was really interesting too. I blitzed through the first 15 hours or so, had a lull in progression for the next 30+ and then towards the end game I was just hoovering up Runes like Scrooge McDuck. They definitely weren't shy about putting road blocks down where needed, but equally, dishing out the riches even for some fairly trivial encounters. 

 

Images spoilered for size

Spoiler

 

My favourite moments...

Spoiler

- The Dragon ambush right at the start

- Stumbling into Siofra River within the first 3 hours, having my jaw drop and then proceeding to complete the area vastly underleveled

- Ganging up on Margit as a co-op group across various people's accounts

- Being ambushed by the giant snake monster thing at the bottom of Stormveil

- Siofra River & Stormveil Castle are as well designed as anything they have ever done before along with the spectacle to boot - as well as Lake of Rot & Moonlight Alter

- Acquiring the mimic tear, having read about it but serendipitously coming across it. Instantly maxing it to +10 and stun locking most bosses for the rest of the game.

- Going to the Frenzied Flame Village right at the end of the game to pick up the Aggro Talisman I needed. Not only did the item work perfect for the final few bosses, but I got the Frenzied Flame ending shortly after with a no so subtle nod to LOTR so it was all fresh in my mind

 

[Davros sock drawer]

11 minutes ago, dug said:

 

Interesting. I'd wondered if it was possible  to clear out the entire overworld (obviously it would be extremely difficult, given you'd have to do it without resting), or even just one section of the overworld. Or would the enemies just respawn? It seems the bats at least do respawn, then.

The eagles had too.

 

Unfortunately I fell down that pit near the bat area shortly afterwards, thus ending my research. 

[dug]

1 hour ago, Davros sock drawer said:

The eagles had too.

 

Unfortunately I fell down that pit near the bat area shortly afterwards, thus ending my research. 

 

I wonder if it's distance related. Science! I shall try clearing out an enemy camp, riding a long distance away and back again, and see if the soldiers have respawned. I'm thinking the one just to the northwest of the starting grace in Liurnia. Then ride all the way north to the opposite end of Liurnia, where the 

Spoiler

'secret' path up to Altus

is, then back to the camp. I'll also time it, because it could just be that they respawn after a certain time has elapsed. Then I'll try clearing the camp, riding a short distance away and waiting for the same amount of time. See if that will also respawn them.

[Broker]

Up to 247 hours now, my sixth most played PlayStation game?! 
 

18 hours ago, Uncle Nasty said:

 

No penalty for death. I hoped that something like World Tendency would reveal itself eventually or the community would discover it, but apart from losing your runes and progress, death was only a slight inconvenience.

 

This is one thing for me they’ve never got right. The soul loss never means much, but in a game where you’ll die hundreds of times the life penalty from Demons and DS2 feels too much. Not sure exactly what they could do to fix this but I don’t like any of their ideas so far

[robdood]

Shower thought - wouldn't the multiplayer in this, e.g. invasions, be much more intense if it was 'silent', i.e. if you didn't get a 'INVADED BY DARK SPIRIT' message?

 

I'd really love if it worked like that. 

 

It's also a shame covenants don't exist any more, some nice side-goal type content where you could work towards helping other players for a particular faction, which could ultimately have tangible effects on the world map for all players, would be awesome.   Like imagine world tendency but on multiple axis, with special bosses and stuff only showing up when certain conditions are met.  A volcano starts erupting.  The massive ancient dragon is revived starts flying round the map. Drop the silly punishing difficulty stuff, but keep the cool events. 

 

You could even use the password system to gate off your own 'world tendency' settings. 

 

[dug]

1 hour ago, dug said:

 

I wonder if it's distance related. Science! I shall try clearing out an enemy camp, riding a long distance away and back again, and see if the soldiers have respawned. I'm thinking the one just to the northwest of the starting grace in Liurnia. Then ride all the way north to the opposite end of Liurnia, where the 

  Reveal hidden contents

'secret' path up to Altus

is, then back to the camp. I'll also time it, because it could just be that they respawn after a certain time has elapsed. Then I'll try clearing the camp, riding a short distance away and waiting for the same amount of time. See if that will also respawn them.

 

Stage one of the experiment: the camp did respawn after riding to the opposite end of Liurnia and back. It took 14 mins 30 seconds. Now I've killed them again and am waiting out of sight around the corner for the same length of time.

[Minion]

Why do people say Rykard is easy, I'm getting my arse kicked and I remember it not being easy the first time either?

[Stoikovich]

Special spear at the entrance ?

[Alask]

Have you got a level 10 mimic? Having fought him 4 times now, I’ve found for him having a levelled up mimic is the biggest difference as it means you’ve got 2x the number of serpent slaying spears.

 

I do find bosses seem wildly different in challenge depending what build you have and what ashes you are using. My previous fight against Alecto was a nightmare. Total bullshit, unbeatable nonsense. My most recent fight using a big old halberd and the sword dance ash of war on the other hand utterly trivialised him.

[Minion]

Yeah of course I 'm using the spear haha! I was trying to solo him, gave up summoned the mimic, dead first time.

 

13 minutes ago, Alask said:

My previous fight against Alecto was a nightmare. Total bullshit, unbeatable nonsense. My most recent fight using a big old halberd and the sword dance ash of war on the other hand utterly trivialised him.

 

Hmm I wouldn't have thought to try that. I beat her (I think it's a her?) using bloodhound step to avoid the waterfowl type attack she does, without bloodhound step I also found it impossible

[dug]

31 minutes ago, dug said:

 

Stage one of the experiment: the camp did respawn after riding to the opposite end of Liurnia and back. It took 14 mins 30 seconds. Now I've killed them again and am waiting out of sight around the corner for the same length of time.

 

Simply waiting did not respawn the enemies, so it must be distance related. 

 

Next I tried riding out to the Academy Gate Town grace (obviously I didn't rest there) and back. They did respawn. Then the Boilprawn Shack grace. They did respawn. Then the Scenic Isle grace. They did not respawn.

 

So, if you go a distance somewhere between that from the camp just northwest of the Lake-Facing Cliffs grace to the Scenic Isle grace, and from the camp to the Boilprawn Shack, the enemies will respawn.

 

I haven't got the whole map on this save, so I can't be sure, but I think there are no major areas on the map that fit in a circle with that radius. Maybe Weeping Peninsula? 

 

You definitely can't clear the whole overworld, anyway.

[Davros sock drawer]

Distance makes sense I guess. I wonder what the reason for it is though? Because it’s not like having fewer enemies on the map would ever be an issue. It is it that it’s less memory intensive to remember a list of enemy starting positions, than a long list of randomly created but specific corpse locations? 

[Broker]

3 hours ago, robdood said:

Shower thought - wouldn't the multiplayer in this, e.g. invasions, be much more intense if it was 'silent', i.e. if you didn't get a 'INVADED BY DARK SPIRIT' message?

 

I'd really love if it worked like that. 

 

It's also a shame covenants don't exist any more, some nice side-goal type content where you could work towards helping other players for a particular faction, which could ultimately have tangible effects on the world map for all players, would be awesome.   Like imagine world tendency but on multiple axis, with special bosses and stuff only showing up when certain conditions are met.  A volcano starts erupting.  The massive ancient dragon is revived starts flying round the map. Drop the silly punishing difficulty stuff, but keep the cool events. 

 

You could even use the password system to gate off your own 'world tendency' settings. 

 

I’ve always thought it would be good to have a third type of multiplayer, not PvP or co-op but both, where there’s no notification and you can just run into other people who could be friendly or hostile. 
 

I’m guessing covenants will come with the DLC, they’re a pretty major omission. 

[Qazimod]

22 hours ago, Uncle Nasty said:

Couple of negatives because it's me...

 

22 hours ago, Benny said:

Counterpoint...

 

I don't think that this game is necessarily watered-down compared to the others, but then I'm terrible at these games anyway - the likes of GD and RotGO were days of attempts. At the same time, the sheer amount of stuff in the game encourages the player to find alternate paths, or different strategies, and in that respect it's a lot more liberating than the other games' ultimatum of "figure out the thing or GTFO".

 

It's perhaps From's best attempt at opening the genre to more players without literally holding their hand through an optimal "easy mode" route.

[Girth Certificate]

the Latin bat song

 

Spoiler

Alas, that land, once blessed, now has diminished
We, (betrothed) destined to be mothers, now become tarnished.
We have lamented and we have shed tears but no one consoles us.
Golden One, at whom you were angry? 

best game

[Danster]

Fuck you Niall

 

Spoiler

https://youtu.be/G1PyamjH6AM