Elden Ring - Shadow of the Erdtree Expansion Announced

[Wiper]

Fuck Commander Niall.

 

That is all.

[Minion]

12 minutes ago, Wiper said:

Fuck Commander Niall.

 

That is all.

Let us know if you want a hand

[Lovelyman]

My favourite dungeons so far are:

 

Raya Lucaria Academy

Volcano Manor

 

Those two specifically felt like Dark Souls ++ to me.

 

 

[Minion]

Yeah Volcano Manor is dope, Leyndell is lit too.

[Davros sock drawer]

Stormveil is still a highlight for me. Feels like the best version of that type of dungeon so far in the series. And it really is pretty vast. 
 

Volcano Manor blew my mind once I realised it wasn’t just the actual Manor House, and the capital is epic as fuck

 

In my head Raya Lucaria is on the small side, but there’s all the rooftop shenanigans I missed first time around, and all the outside areas with the waterfalls etc. 

 

Plus there are loads of incidental “dungeons” like Castle Morne scattered around, as well as the Hero’s Graves and mines etc. There’s so much content, and it’s all killer. 
 

I wish I could delete my memories and play it again. Bring on the DLC! 

[Kevvy Metal]

The best isn’t even any of these! 
 

Spoiler

Haligtree

 

[Ste Pickford]

I thought I'd done all of Stormveil.  I've not killed that golden knight at the bottom yet, or that giant insect beast thing past the rats (although I've run past and grabbed the item), but I feel like I've been everywhere I can go.  But I just checked last night and there's an item I've not got.  Right at the start, just past where you meet Gostoc, if you double back to your left and drop down, there's a corpse with an item just too high to reach, right underneath the staircase after you fight Margit.  I presume you get to it from the other side, but I don't recall any unexplored areas.

[kempstar]

11 minutes ago, Ste Pickford said:

I thought I'd done all of Stormveil.  I've not killed that golden knight at the bottom yet, or that giant insect beast thing past the rats (although I've run past and grabbed the item), but I feel like I've been everywhere I can go.  But I just checked last night and there's an item I've not got.  Right at the start, just past where you meet Gostoc, if you double back to your left and drop down, there's a corpse with an item just too high to reach, right underneath the staircase after you fight Margit.  I presume you get to it from the other side, but I don't recall any unexplored areas.

You get that by dropping down just to the right of the main gate, and there is a path round.

[Lovelyman]

Is it the one in the hole in the wall?

[Ste Pickford]

Yeah.  Hah, I thought it would be some winding path from deep within the castle that I'd missed.  It's probably just a mushroom, isn't it?

[Lovelyman]

Arteria leaves 

[PikaStu]

In my ongoing quest to make things harder than they should be, I killed Rykard while dual-wielding katanas, because on paper they’re “better” than the serpent sword you’re given.

 

Ah well, it’s done now!

[Alask]

1 hour ago, Kevvy Metal said:

The best isn’t even any of these! 
 

  Reveal hidden contents

Haligtree

 

I’m doing that now, missed the whole area on my first run. It’s one of those rare areas where I can take Flame of the Redmanes off the shelf, slap it on my strongest weapon and not feel guilty. I like it.

[Uncle Nasty]

Haligtree and Crumbling Farum Azula are masterclasses of level design. So creative and unexpected. The arrangement of the paths and walkways, the way they don't feel like actual game levels with obvious platforms makes it feel like you're trespassing and interfering in sacred places. I felt terrible for killing some of the "enemies" in this game. 

[Rayn]

After about 10 days off trying to enjoy other games for a while I returned to Elden Ring last night and picked up on my NG+ run. The NG+ strikes me as weirdly balanced as the first few bosses were a cakewalk, Margit went down in four sword swings while Godrick needed six or seven. 

Last night I went for the Foreskin Duo and they owned me so hard it felt unfair. They killed my Tishe in seconds and me in a couple of blows. I kept trying but I rarely got the main healthbar down to even 66%. 

When I finally killed them, I did so with only one (!) attack, my Tishe summon annihilated them both in what felt like ten seconds, it was as if I'd applied a cheat code all of a sudden. 

The same happened with Mogh (main version). First couple of tries I barely did a dent in his healthbar but when I killed him it felt like I was playing with God Mode enabled and it even happened on Niall in Castle Sol. First few tries I struggled to even hurt his bodyguards, my summon was killed before even one of them went down but when I survived the fight so did my summon which still was on 80% health. 

[robdood]

46 minutes ago, Uncle Nasty said:

Haligtree and Crumbling Farum Azula are masterclasses of level design. So creative and unexpected. The arrangement of the paths and walkways, the way they don't feel like actual game levels with obvious platforms makes it feel like you're trespassing and interfering in sacred places. I felt terrible for killing some of the "enemies" in this game. 

I think this is one of the things that Fromsoft have done so well with ER - even just traversing the open world, there are so many little nooks and ledges and bits of ruined buildings about that you frequently feel that the way you're going isn't the 'real' way, that you're doing something the designers didn't intend (though they clearly did!), and a route/path that only you have found like the supergenius explorer that you truly are. 

 

Very good for making that adventure feel even more personal and driven by you alone. 

[Kevvy Metal]

39 minutes ago, Uncle Nasty said:

Haligtree and Crumbling Farum Azula are masterclasses of level design. So creative and unexpected. The arrangement of the paths and walkways, the way they don't feel like actual game levels with obvious platforms makes it feel like you're trespassing and interfering in sacred places. I felt terrible for killing some of the "enemies" in this game. 

 

Yes, those who seem to think Stormveil is the best of them I feel haven't actually got to all the legacy dungeons...

[scottcr]

47 minutes ago, robdood said:

I think this is one of the things that Fromsoft have done so well with ER - even just traversing the open world, there are so many little nooks and ledges and bits of ruined buildings about that you frequently feel that the way you're going isn't the 'real' way, that you're doing something the designers didn't intend (though they clearly did!), and a route/path that only you have found like the supergenius explorer that you truly are. 

 

Very good for making that adventure feel even more personal and driven by you alone. 

 

this is what BOTW did so expertly and yes, I still think better - as you didn't feel as though there was anything stopping you getting somewhere other than your own bravery and stamina.

 

I still maintain that Volcano Manor wasn't that great - maybe I just don't like lava levels.  I did like the whole thing about invading though, that was good.  

 

 

 

[scottcr]

35 minutes ago, Kevvy Metal said:

 

Yes, those who seem to think Stormveil is the best of them I feel haven't actually got to all the legacy dungeons...

 

I've not made it to Haligtree yet - I tried hoofing it past the massive fire giant thing in the snow area (which was dull!) - but he's unavoidable which I thought was a bit cheap.

[Ste Pickford]

Another mini update to the journal.  I'm about one more page away from getting to draw Stormveil Castle, which I'm really looking forward to.

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Girth Certificate]

The exploding zombie guys in Caelid make me chuckle. It's the way they hold their chests as they run towards you before they start to expand. Instead of looking like they are trying to hold in the explosion it looks like they've been caught topless and are embarrassed and all like DON'T LOOK AT MY BOOBIES! and then they blow up.

 

Caelid is tough as a sorcerer. The baddies, particularly the big crows, close the distance very quickly. Pumpkinheads are harder as well because the lock on has you aiming at their big invincible helmets instead of their weak squishy bodies.

[Talvalin]

Funny you mention Patches. I read about him appearing in a later area, having completely missed his cave in that area despite finding the invader and the catacombs, so went back to do the needful to move him on. Except I panicked slightly, went all in with Flame, Grant Me Strength and the Magma Guillotine special of the Magma Wyrm Greatsword (at Strength 30 and Faith 40+) and one-shotted him by accident.

 

Oops. Guess I'll have to see him in NG+ instead eh.

[Uncle Nasty]

1 hour ago, robdood said:

I think this is one of the things that Fromsoft have done so well with ER - even just traversing the open world, there are so many little nooks and ledges and bits of ruined buildings about that you frequently feel that the way you're going isn't the 'real' way, that you're doing something the designers didn't intend (though they clearly did!), and a route/path that only you have found like the supergenius explorer that you truly are. 

 

Very good for making that adventure feel even more personal and driven by you alone. 

 

Exactly that, and it makes the traversing even more terrifying and exciting when there's a very real chance of it all going to hell. Even Aunty Nasty was getting vertigo and nausea whenever I spun the camera around in Haligtree. I just love that feeling of complete terror and panic subsiding when you get to safe ground. It's so addictive and of course the great Michael Zaki knows this.

 

I thought the lighting and architectural/structural design on both Haligtree and Crumbling Farum were extraordinary. It felt like every view was considered and framed like something from a movie or concept art still. Everything is refined and executed with tremendous amounts of care and detail. The engravings, mouldings and statues are phenomenal works of art in their own right, Haligtree in particular is staggering. I spent ages looking around at the art and trying to figure out its meanings. And all completely optional. Madness.

 

I prefer the game when Torrent is unavailable.

[Uncle Nasty]

15 minutes ago, Talvalin said:

Funny you mention Patches. I read about him appearing in a later area, having completely missed his cave in that area despite finding the invader and the catacombs, so went back to do the needful to move him on. Except I panicked slightly, went all in with Flame, Grant Me Strength and the Magma Guillotine special of the Magma Wyrm Greatsword (at Strength 30 and Faith 40+) and one-shotted him by accident.

 

 

No more than he deserves!

[Kevvy Metal]

30 minutes ago, scottcr said:

 

I've not made it to Haligtree yet - I tried hoofing it past the massive fire giant thing in the snow area (which was dull!) - but he's unavoidable which I thought was a bit cheap.

 

You're going the wrong way. 
Also it boggles the mind that anyone could think that the snow area is dull. It's a little more open and desolate due to the context of where you're at but it's still beautifully designed and loops back on itself with some absolutely incredible vistas. I mean, anyone could call anything dull - that's subjectivity for you - but the fact that all of the various area's are so consistant and full of interesting stuff is one of the best and most impressive things about the game! 

[Nick R]

On 19/04/2022 at 10:17, viewtiful jim said:

Patch notes for 1.04

 

Zullie the Witch has done a video illustrating how this has fixed a couple of bugs:

 

 

 

Her previous videos on these issues: the rapid damage from dog attacks, and the multi-hit illusory walls.

 

Also this one on some quirks of the hitstop system:

 

 

 

[John0]

Oh that's good news on the dogs! I lost ~300k runes to those at one point (though not too difficult to earn them back around where I was I suppose).

[John0]

Well I beat the final boss on Bank Holiday Monday  It actually didn't take too many attempts once I could get to the 2nd stage reliably, though watching the replay I noticed that someone else from rollmuk became an Elden Lord during my victory fight! I don't actually know what that buff does exactly, but if you too beat the final boss on Monday late afternoon then thank you kind stranger! Much appreciated . I owe you a boiled prawn or two.

 

Final boss battle:

 

Spoiler

 

 

Note: this includes the FF ending btw! If anyone is curious

 

47 boss fights in a playlist:

 

Spoiler

 

 

I still persisted with my stupid self imposed rules most of the way (with the odd exception) which meant fighting Melania, Mohg, Godfrey/HL, Maliketh, and Rad/EB all without a summon and with my trusty Golden Greatshield and Lordsworn Straight Sword that I got about an hour into the game. None of them took me tooooo long (except Melania of course lol) but I definitely found this really quite difficult, and to be honest burnt out on dying to bosses a liiiitle bit. But I do realise that was pretty much entirely unnecessary and self-inflicted . Though like I said in previous posts I really wasn't getting much enjoyment or sense of accomplishment personally from fighting these 1v1s with a summon.

 

Anyway, as for final thoughts.. what an indescribably incredible game! I don't think mere words can do it justice really. It does feel like you found a portal to a magical world and that you're not just *in* a high fantasy grimdark style story, but also that you're discovering and unearthing its secrets and world with a very strong sense of agency. And the combination of those things is just like pure, distilled magic. Like others have said it has completely consumed me for almost 2 months now.

 

I don't think I can really add or expand on all of the plaudits that we've all already been over and over and others do it better than me anyway. But I loved the combat. I loved the atmosphere. I loved the architecture and scenery. I loved the extremely clever level design. I pretty much loved everything. Even when it was kicking my arse over and over (though I definitely had my frustrated moments of course ).

 

I do agree with a lot of the criticisms actually as well to be honest. It's far from perfect. But in a way that really is a part of the charm and I honestly, 99% of the time, just didn't care. The good stuff just completely devoured any slight thing I thought was not quite right.

 

And finally, thanks to everyone in this thread for posting your adventures, trials, tribulations, advice, experiences, amazing art work, boss videos and everything in between. These games do such a fantastic job of creating a shared sense of experience within the communities that form around them, and it's been really fun to share and be a part of that on here .

 

Edit: Oh almost forgot, I managed to finish with a set of rounded/half rounded stats, which gave a very slight sense of extra satisfaction
 

[robdood]

1 hour ago, scottcr said:

this is what BOTW did so expertly and yes, I still think better - as you didn't feel as though there was anything stopping you getting somewhere other than your own bravery and stamina.

But that's a different feeling.  In Zelda ANYONE can go ANYWHERE.  Especially once they figure out out to make potions and basically have infinite stamina.  Everyone can brute force a climb.  

 

In ER, when I manage to jump up a cliffside on Torrent using weird bits of rocks that don't even really look like platforms, or in a dungeon try a weird jump to a ledge or tree branch that doesn't look like I should be able to make it and am successful, I feel like I'm the only person who has noticed or tried it.  And that's coolaf. 

[StephenM]

Did the big bad of Lyndell yesterday -- not too bad! I haven't come across any sewers, though; any thoughts on whether I press on to the forbidden lands or keep exploring here?