Elden Ring - Shadow of the Erdtree Expansion Announced

[Alex W.]

Today I found a large jar boi and fought about twenty skeletons.

 

Life is good.

[Girth Certificate]

So, Hammering L1 holding a shield in coop, are you making a pumped up fist shaking motion or wanking?

[Monkeyspill]

Spoiler

Elden Beast

is annoying. I can barely get close enough to hit it. It’s deceptive how close you actually have to be - I’m often swinging my sword into thin air. My mimic ashes (if it’s still alive) is rubbish too.

[Flanders]

Started playing this at the weekend -

the exploration is clearly amazing because I’ve put five hours into it that felt like 30 minutes.

 

But I have found myself slightly disappointed that combat is a distinct step back from Bloodborne and Sekiro. It’s very much that slower Dark Souls pace. Early days yet though. 

[Lovelyman]

I think I was wrong about the lore being a bit too much fan service. 

 

Watching some stuff on YouTube, it's actually fantastic.

[Uncle Nasty]

7 hours ago, Broker said:

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

 

 

Imagine an RPG where the playable area of the map shrinks on death, as in PUBG, with previously accessible areas of the map permanently locked.

[Lovelyman]

I'm not sure you need additional punishment for dying. It's meant to teach you, not hinder you.

[Number 28]

If you're hankering for more punishment you should play on PS4 where the reload on death is three times longer. 

[Keyboard Koala]

3 hours ago, Monkeyspill said:

  Hide contents

Elden Beast

is annoying. I can barely get close enough to hit it. It’s deceptive how close you actually have to be - I’m often swinging my sword into thin air. My mimic ashes (if it’s still alive) is rubbish too.

 

Try finger, but hole.

 

Seriously though, try

 

Spoiler

Tiche, if you found her ashes.

 

[Minion]

God damn this twat

 

 

[smithstock]

1 hour ago, Flanders said:

I have found myself slightly disappointed that combat is a distinct step back from Bloodborne and Sekiro. It’s very much that slower Dark Souls pace. Early days yet though. 

I don't agree that it's a step back from BB or Sekiro, it's a totally different approach to both of those games - which I would also argue have a much more limited combat pallette.

 

However, I do think the combat isn't a significant step up from DS3, but making some interesting playstyle tweaks and adding the dedicated jump button is enough for me. Evolution over revolution. 

[Girth Certificate]

 

lol

[Let us measure]

1 hour ago, Number 28 said:

If you're hankering for more punishment you should play on PS4 where the reload on death is three times longer. 

 

Conversely, and I'm going to sound like a massive envious pauper apologist here, I've grown to quite like the extended loading times on my OG PS4 - they give you a chance to breathe and reflect, and for your heart rate to return to healthy, non-threatening levels. Mind you, I'm a veteran of Bloodborne pre-first patch, when upon death all you were faced with was a massive BLOODBORNE, white on black, for about three minutes. A loading screen that made you wait, and consider the meaning of things, and reflect upon your sins.

[kris_doe]

Finally! After being stuck for upwards of maybe 15 hours on EB, finally killed him tonight. 
 

After many respecs and attempts with different weapons, the beast has finally been bested. 

 

Don’t think I have it in me to do Malenia, who I had multiple attempts at during the 15 odd hours I’ve been stuck.

[Keyboard Koala]

55 minutes ago, Let us measure said:

 

Mind you, I'm a veteran of Bloodborne pre-first patch, when upon death all you were faced with was a massive BLOODBORNE, white on black, for about three minutes. A loading screen that made you wait, and consider the meaning of things, and reflect upon your sins.

 

 

God yes, I remember that. Good times.

Imo, the loading times on the PS4 are just a tad too long, but even worse is that they stopped showing the item info screens during loading times. Gave you a chance to catch up on the lore.

[Wiper]

Made my way up a new elevator, then went back and did a little bit of mopping up in Leyndell, including fulfilling a certain invasion. Which reminded me to go back to Volcano Manor, where I, er, may have stumbled upon its boss (I got lost trying to refind Rya) and murdered him. More bosses should come with their own anti-boss weapon! Not least as my first attempt without it went terribly; short-ranged weapons aren't much fun when you're stuck standing in fire to use them. But yes, amused that despite the weapon scaling with a largely worthless stat for me (ooh, 12 strength), it still destroyed the boss. Love a good stun affect! Also marked the first time in the game that I've used FP-restoring flasks, so that was exciting.

 

Oddly though, having trampled through Leyndell and the Manor's bosses, and romped my way through the Forbidden Lands, the next area is handing my arse to me. Un-staggerable, paired enemies; more flying bastards than you can shake a twinblade at; endless, bleed-immune ghosts; I'm having a bad time! Though I was happy to see an old friend on the way. Looking forward to getting to the (undoubtedly cheery) end to her tale!

 

Oh, and I met a, er, 'ex-'friend too. That was weird.

 

In other news, I'm not really sure where to put my stats. I bumped my vigor up to 30 for fun, but I feel like I'm in diminishing returns territory with arcane; I've only got one level of weapon left to go (and goodness knows when/where I'll found the appropriate somber stone), so damage output potential is growing slowly now. I could potentially bump dex and strength a bit so I can try one of my fancy new weapons, but as they all scale solely with dex/strength, it feels like they won't synergise that well with my arcane heavy build. Hmm.

[Retroid]

The Dectus medallion... Not useful if you've been to the destination a million times. I kind of thought it'd take me somewhere new, I was so disappointed although I bet it's pretty epic if you've not been there before.

 

[Cyhwuhx]

Finally managed to reach FG.

 

Spoiler

Focking hell that was bonkers. 🙃

 

"OFFER LEG."

 

And then the second phase kicks in. 🫠

 

Managed to beat the bastard in the end. It was a way more satisfying large scale battle than fighting Mr. Anal Beads with Wings mentioned above. Took as many tries regardless. 🥲

 

[Uncle Nasty]

11 hours ago, Minion said:

God damn this twat

 

 

 

Spoiler

Rotten Breath. Makes this and most other boss fights very doable.

 

[Padaxes]

So I've hit a problem. Ive got to the Capital but its kind of killed my enthusiasm.

 

Spoiler

I got a slight twinge a bit earlier with repeating enemies (just a bit harder) but now Im just in this endless seeming labrynthine areas where I die, repeat, fall down or make a wrong turn and its an entirely different area, where I die... repeat. 

 

 

 

After being consistently desperate to get back to the Lands Between for around 70 hours, I find myself struggling to muster the effort to boot it back up again  

[Davros sock drawer]

Might just be burnt out. When I got to the capital I just gorged on it. It was like being given a never-ending smorgasbord of environmental and combat challenges, and it was overwhelming in a good way. 
 

It’s a biiiig meal though, so I could see it being exhausting. Personally it was a highlight for me.

[Cyhwuhx]

30 minutes ago, Padaxes said:

So I've hit a problem. Ive got to the Capital but its kind of killed my enthusiasm.

 

  Hide contents

I got a slight twinge a bit earlier with repeating enemies (just a bit harder) but now Im just in this endless seeming labrynthine areas where I die, repeat, fall down or make a wrong turn and its an entirely different area, where I die... repeat. 

 

 

 

After being consistently desperate to get back to the Lands Between for around 70 hours, I find myself struggling to muster the effort to boot it back up again  

 

If you really feel like you're 'stuck' in the Capital with no idea where to go next, you might just need to...

 

Spoiler

take a walk on the wing side.

 

[Lovelyman]

I actually rushed through the capital as it felt a bit too big for what I was capable of dealing with. Especially with those tricky Knights. 

 

I am now at the Snow place and I think I'll go back and check I've not missed anything. 

 

The game does seem to backload the good stuff. So I'm much better equipped to wreck shit in the capital. 

[Minion]

55 minutes ago, Uncle Nasty said:

 

  Hide contents

Rotten Breath. Makes this and most other boss fights very doable.

 

 

Oh he's dead now, I just couldn't believe he was still alive the fucker, I needed to refill my blue flask but I got all muddled with finding it, I feel like they look too similar on the icon, the colours of the flask aren't prominent enough without really looking, or it could be my tv is too big now.

 

I've not used any of the dragon incantations yet, I'm still sticking with Stone of Gurranq for bosses it destroys all I've come across so far, it can even stagger crucible knights. I'll be getting into the dragon stuff soon though as I venture beyond the capital.

[Kryptonian]

4.67gb update on my Xbox for this - anyone know what it is?

 

edit - it's the 1.04 patch and the notes aren't out yet apparently

[Kevvy Metal]

50 minutes ago, Padaxes said:

So I've hit a problem. Ive got to the Capital but its kind of killed my enthusiasm.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

I got a slight twinge a bit earlier with repeating enemies (just a bit harder) but now Im just in this endless seeming labrynthine areas where I die, repeat, fall down or make a wrong turn and its an entirely different area, where I die... repeat. 

 

 

 

After being consistently desperate to get back to the Lands Between for around 70 hours, I find myself struggling to muster the effort to boot it back up again  

 

40 minutes ago, Davros sock drawer said:

Might just be burnt out. When I got to the capital I just gorged on it. It was like being given a never-ending smorgasbord of environmental and combat challenges, and it was overwhelming in a good way. 
 

It’s a biiiig meal though, so I could see it being exhausting. Personally it was a highlight for me.

 

The Capital is a beautiful highlight in a game that is a series of highlights. 

[John0]

On 17/04/2022 at 19:08, Uncle Nasty said:

Even at level 140 I've been first timing the late game bosses, and I am an absolutely terrible player, especially at bosses. Godskin Duo, Hoarah Loux, all of the bosses in the last few levels were surprisingly easy. Even the Fire Giant, which I was dreading, was only a mild irritant. Compare that to DS3 or BB where I was absolutely on my knees and some of the satisfaction is missing.

 

I think this is because of the spirit ashes though right? I love that they're in the game and it's a really interesting development, but it does allow you to just power through bosses without really having to learn them or their movesets or anything. Some of the late-game bosses second phase movesets are really tough, VERY fast and punishing.

 

Take Maliketh for example. As soon as you hit phase 2 he's doing crazy fast huge swipes all over the place, a lot of which are not fully blockable and have subtly different timings and delays. And if you do get hit your max HP gets sapped. He can also fire projectiles which also have different timings depending on small differences. I think he has three different "slam" type moves with varying degrees/types of AOE that I never even really got the hang of spotting the tells for. And this is a boss that I don't even really think anyone talks about!

 

I am on board with the whole "balance doesn't always equal fun" thing, but it definitely felt like it was too easy with ashes, but too hard without by the end-game, for me.

[scottcr]

I’m losing a lot of enthusiasm for this… I’ve found myself now just charging past things to find graces as I can’t be bothered fighting everything. Then I ran into the fire giant and got stomped *again*. 
 

length wise, it feels like the game should’ve ended at the capital. At least the main story, of what there is anywayS I really enjoyed that area and going up to the tree but I feel as though I’m at the game extending triforce quest equivalent now.

[Girth Certificate]

I wish you could assign spells to R1, R2 and maybe even L2. Would make swapping between them less fiddly. I need to practise Carian Retalation

[Kevvy Metal]

6 minutes ago, scottcr said:

I’m losing a lot of enthusiasm for this… I’ve found myself now just charging past things to find graces as I can’t be bothered fighting everything. Then I ran into the fire giant and got stomped *again*. 
 

length wise, it feels like the game should’ve ended at the capital. At least the main story, of what there is anywayS I really enjoyed that area and going up to the tree but I feel as though I’m at the game extending triforce quest equivalent now.

 

End at the capital? God no! That's like saying your favourite album should have 3 less songs because you... don't actually like the album. 

Have you tried just playing a different game?