Elden Ring - Shadow of the Erdtree Expansion Announced

[PikaStu]

Dual katanas are fast and allow two quick hits instead of one. I’ve struggled through most of the game using them, and when I try anything else, I struggle even more. Only problem is you have no block / parry. 

I’m using the Blood Uchigatana +25 in my right hand (with bloody slash), the passive effect is blood loss buildup (84)

In my left hand, the Rivers of Blood +10 Katana which also has blood loss buildup (52)

 

My issue is reading enemy attacks and avoiding them. For bosses I’ve relied on my mimic providing distraction. However in the case of Malenia and Godfrey, they normally kill the mimic before their second form (when it usually gets harder).

 

Yeah, I need to get good…

[Sexton Hardcastle]

Swap them. RoB is probably better in the right hand. 

[Oz]

I sold the blasfemus blade when trying to  upgrade it ahead of NG+ I am absolutely livid. 

[Oz]

For those of you suffering with insomnia or just struggling to fall asleep. I wanted to share the meditation I have been doing.

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Jamie John]

On 03/11/2022 at 22:02, Oz said:

I almost had this guy on first try. Who wants to see me suffer? 
 

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[Parappa]

I really cannot do the final boss and want to just see the credits roll on a soulsbourne game.  It's been an incredible experience but I am ready to move. 

 

I can do the first part of the battle (most attempts) with my trusty mimic but the final part is just annoying and I can't get it below half health. Any suggestions before I just give up?  

 

Level 149 and using a decent armour set for holy defence and the +10 Bloodhound blade along with my Octopus sheild which I think is maxed out.  I haven't used any human help throughout the game and don't really want to do it now if I can help it..

 

[Qazimod]

I was a Lv150 Strength build with Mimic+10 and Watchdog's Staff+10. I poked RotGO with the staff's two-handed projectile skill (having a large blue bar helps) whilst my mimic went in, then did as much melee damage to EB as possible whilst the mimic was still alive - and then kept going, hoping that I could outlast the boss with the flasks I had. You kind of want to be aggressive at the end so that you feel like you're doing decent damage in between flask sips.

 

https://www.twitch.tv/qazimod/video/1442265387

[Jamie John]

4 hours ago, Parappa said:

I really cannot do the final boss and want to just see the credits roll on a soulsbourne game.  It's been an incredible experience but I am ready to move. 

 

I can do the first part of the battle (most attempts) with my trusty mimic but the final part is just annoying and I can't get it below half health. Any suggestions before I just give up?  

 

Level 149 and using a decent armour set for holy defence and the +10 Bloodhound blade along with my Octopus sheild which I think is maxed out.  I haven't used any human help throughout the game and don't really want to do it now if I can help it..

 

 

If you just want to get the game done then use human help; it's a system that the game uses which is meant to be used - there's no shame in using it.

 

If you're adamant, however, then there are lots of cheese strats that you can refer to: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=elden+beast+cheese+

 

If you're comfortable with the first stage of the fight, then perhaps try doing that bit sans Mimic and then summon him/her in before the transition to stage two.

[Parappa]

53 minutes ago, Jamie John said:

If you're comfortable with the first stage of the fight, then perhaps try doing that bit sans Mimic and then summon him/her in before the transition to stage two

Oh man I never even thought of trying that 🤣. Cheers. Back to it tomorrow . 

[Curtis]

Just got back off holiday to find Volume 1 of the Official Guide waiting for me. Damn, thats a hefty tome! To be expected i suppose given the size and scope of the game.

 

Just spent a good 20 mins pouring over the map trying to spot things I'd missed. 

 

Reckon I'll start a fresh playthrough before years end.

[Nick R]

Game Maker's Tool Kit on the structure of Elden Ring.

 

Spoiler warning: most of the video is about areas up to and including the Royal Capital; the last section from ~15:50 covers things after that.

 

 

 

[MardiganX]

I thought I was going to put this on the back burner after Ragnarok landed but I got sucked back in last night and had an almighty session. 
 

Took out Rykard, Fortissax and all manner of mini bosses in between. Absolutely incredible journeys and battles all the way through and I’m now close to where I think I need to be for the end game run. Buzzing! Still using Longsworns Longsword +17 but I’ve hit an upgrade wall chasing smithing stones[6]. Night give this Blasphemous Blade a whirl as it looks pretty handy. 

 

I do have a bit of a grumble though. Fighting Dragons as a melee build is shite. Unless I’m missing something, or it is specific to Fortissax, you can’t lock onto legs so end up either fighting the camera to get hits or not using lock-on making the battle harder than it needs to be. What am I missing?

 

[rgraves]

On 11/11/2022 at 22:54, Nick R said:

Game Maker's Tool Kit on the structure of Elden Ring.

 

Some good stuff, but they totally lose me when they suggest the game would be better if the enemies scaled. I totally disagree with that, in any game really. If I've gone away and got stronger, I want to come back and swat the earlier stuff like the powerful beast I now am, not struggle against an early enemy still because they've also managed to miraculously power up despite not having to undertake the same bothersome quests as I have. It's not bad to come back and feel stronger, it's bad to come back and feel like everything you've done was for nothing really as everything around you has just matched you up anyway. Blurrgghhhh.

 

There's always challenge in ER if you want to find it, but going back to Limgrave and feeling like a god compared to how you had to creep around earlier is awesome not something that needs to be designed out.

 

[PaB]

9 minutes ago, rgraves said:

 

Some good stuff, but they totally lose me when they suggest the game would be better if the enemies scaled. I totally disagree with that, in any game really. If I've gone away and got stronger, I want to come back and swat the earlier stuff like the powerful beast I now am, not struggle against an early enemy still because they've also managed to miraculously power up despite not having to undertake the same bothersome quests as I have. It's not bad to come back and feel stronger, it's bad to come back and feel like everything you've done was for nothing really as everything around you has just matched you up anyway. Blurrgghhhh.

 

There's always challenge in ER if you want to find it, but going back to Limgrave and feeling like a god compared to how you had to creep around earlier is awesome not something that needs to be designed out.

 

Agree 100% .enemy scaling works in some games, but in this, it would absolutely ruin the game. I’m amazed anyone would actually propose it. 

[PeteJ]

Also agree 100%, enemy scaling doesn't work for me in most games. Skyrim and Oblivion was the worst for it, the games felt like a dull treadmill as you very rarely stumbled into a rock-hard area, it became bland as a result. 

Even MMOs fail at this as although they have areas which are clearly too high level, they show you the enemy level and then make it so you only do 1 or zero damage if an enemy is too high level. 

 

ER works so well because you never know when you are about to get absolutely splattered, keeping the tension up throughout, but also heightening the satisfaction when you get to turn things around. You also get the chance, as people way better than me have shown, to complete the game at level 1. 

[MardiganX]

Same as above on a monumental scale. I would have given up playing ER weeks ago if I didn’t have the constant motivation of ‘I will be back for you after a few hours / dungeons ya prick’. It’s made every aspect of the game so rewarding.

 

Help needed now lads. I have abused strength upgrades to the point I’m lvl 70 for it now. I have Longsworns Straightsword+23 but want to have a great / collosal weapon option that maximises my strength fetish. What should I use? I have all manner of weapons that I know nothing about because I’ve grown so attached to Longsworn but feel I need a really hefty alternative for whatever is left to beat. For context, I’m at the Fire Giant, have finished Rannis quest and lots of other side stuff so I’m fairly stacked.

[Nick R]

11 hours ago, rgraves said:

Some good stuff, but they totally lose me when they suggest the game would be better if the enemies scaled. I totally disagree with that, in any game really. If I've gone away and got stronger, I want to come back and swat the earlier stuff like the powerful beast I now am, not struggle against an early enemy still because they've also managed to miraculously power up despite not having to undertake the same bothersome quests as I have. It's not bad to come back and feel stronger, it's bad to come back and feel like everything you've done was for nothing really as everything around you has just matched you up anyway. Blurrgghhhh.

 

11 hours ago, PaB said:

Agree 100% .enemy scaling works in some games, but in this, it would absolutely ruin the game. I’m amazed anyone would actually propose it. 

 

13 minutes ago, MardiganX said:

Same as above on a monumental scale. I would have given up playing ER weeks ago if I didn’t have the constant motivation of ‘I will be back for you after a few hours / dungeons ya prick’. It’s made every aspect of the game so rewarding.

 

You're all interpreting that section of the video very differently to me!

 

I didn't think he was saying "Elden Ring would be a better game if enemies scaled with you." I thought he was saying: "Getting over-levelled can diminish the experience; level scaling is one way that other games have tried to solve this issue (as well as the related problem of frequently-replayed early levels becoming easy and boring)."

 

He's saying that it is an issue that players occasionally find themselves at an inappropriately high level, and be would have liked it if From had found some creative solution to this problem. He used level scaling as the example from other games, but didn't necessarily say that it's his preferred solution in this case.

[KRP]

My annoyance with enemy levels was  the inconsistency between regular enemies in a dungeon and then a boss at the end that was way over powered. I think if the regular enemies had been a higher level, as an indication that the boss would be nails, I would prefer that. 
 

Then again that would take away those moments when you go “fuck I didn’t realise how weak I am” - which are good, but imo too regular. 

 

I agreed with a lot of that GMT video - after 50 hours of ER I had had my fill. I think this is probably more to my own personal preferences than necessarily the game being bad. To take the BotW example, I never minded finding another puzzle shrine as I love puzzles, but going into more catacombs in ER got boring for me a lot faster as I don’t enjoy combat quite as much. 

 

That said, I can’t complain too much as I was getting up before work to play and I haven’t done that for years. 

 

[MardiganX]

I have no problem with how the game manages progression, or enemy levels but I will never get past the fact that it regularly leathers you with sections or boss fights that just no fun to play at all. So it swings from incredibly enjoyable and rewarding epic adventure to tedious repetition and frustration. What annoys me the most about that is there is no need for it. Sekiro handled all the same elements but made absolutely every single moment a thrill to play.

 

This Fire Giant Is fucking awful both in terms if gameplay and presentation. Often clipping over you or hit boxes just completely wild. Yes it has a pattern but defeating that pattern is boring as fuck. Then you get twatted by something you thought were about to block or roll through.

 

Its particularly frustrating because the past 30 or so hours up to this point have been absolutely magical. I’m not sure if it’s a widely hated section but if you make a boss enormous, forcing you to fight it with 90% of it off the screen is ridiculous. 

[JPL]

2 hours ago, MardiganX said:

I have no problem with how the game manages progression, or enemy levels but I will never get past the fact that it regularly leathers you with sections or boss fights that just no fun to play at all. So it swings from incredibly enjoyable and rewarding epic adventure to tedious repetition and frustration. What annoys me the most about that is there is no need for it. Sekiro handled all the same elements but made absolutely every single moment a thrill to play.

 

This Fire Giant Is fucking awful both in terms if gameplay and presentation. Often clipping over you or hit boxes just completely wild. Yes it has a pattern but defeating that pattern is boring as fuck. Then you get twatted by something you thought were about to block or roll through.

 

Its particularly frustrating because the past 30 or so hours up to this point have been absolutely magical. I’m not sure if it’s a widely hated section but if you make a boss enormous, forcing you to fight it with 90% of it off the screen is ridiculous. 

30 hours to get to the fire giant? Jesus, you’re ripping through it. I must have been up in the couple of hundreds by that point.

[MardiganX]

47 minutes ago, JPL said:

30 hours to get to the fire giant? Jesus, you’re ripping through it. I must have been up in the couple of hundreds by that point.

 

Oh sweet Jesus no! I am well over the 100 mark, I just meant its been about 30 hours since the last time I felt the way the Fire Giant is making me feel  correction, WAS making me feel. He toppled earlier this afternoon and I'm now back to enjoying the game at its very best. 

 

 

[PeteJ]

Yes Fire Giant is generally regarded as being a bit of a shit one, at least last time I was checking around about such things!

[MardiganX]

16 minutes ago, PeteJ said:

Yes Fire Giant is generally regarded as being a bit of a shit one, at least last time I was checking around about such things!

It’s awful. After the initial visual “wow” moment it quickly descends into all the worst aspects of the game. The ‘difficulty’, the camera, the combat repetition  really glad it’s over and at this point in the game I find it really disappointing that’s how it left me feeling.

 

Dont get me wrong, in general Elden Ring is a masterpiece but it has its flaws. My current annoyance is the fact my ‘god-slayer’ level Longsworn+25 looks no different to its base version  couldn’t even have made it glow or something. Shite!!

[joemul]

Currently running around CFA will a top spec Rivers of Blood but getting battered by the armour clad undead knight-type enemies. They're ruthless.

 

Need to go and explore for a biut and either level up some more or re-spec and switch weapons.

[MardiganX]

Are you spec’d to take advantage of the swords scaling @joemul I’m alternating between a maxed Longsworn and almost maxed Grafted Greatsword and the only trouble I am having around that area is if I let myself get overwhelmed. Boss type fellows are a different story of course.
 

Watching what are meant to be top tier foot soldiers get endlessly staggered by the Grafted is glorious. 

[joemul]

I respected to up my dex massively. Problem is they can just hit through most katana strikes.
 

I think I’ll go back to a heavy sword for the stagger. 

[MardiganX]

I think I need to take a break from this. I’m up against Malakeith and each attempt is making me like the game less and less. Once again it’s an exercise in constant fucking rolling until that single window opens up to attack. It’s no fun whatsoever and makes all the brilliant progress and development up to this point feel meaningless as you have almost no options as to how you approach the battle. Sure you can change weapons, ashes, spells, etc. but it all boils down down ‘dodge roll until you can do X attack’.

 

Looking at what I still have to battle through after him and I’m just exhausted putting so much time into gameplay I’m not actually enjoying. When ER embraces the openness and scale of its world it’s incredible, but every time From doubles down on their extremely well worn boss dynamic it loses a lot of its magic.

 

I will come back when I’m less frustrated and see how it shapes up but right now every bad thing about the game is being thrown at me and I’m so bored of it.

[scottcr]

Gave up on Godfrey for a bit - headed off to another area of the map and stumbled on Castle Sol.  Was a piece of piss given my level so Commander Niall went down quickly... got some medallion and realised I had the other half from somewhere else.  So turns out I'm now at the Haligtree... enjoying the game again.  

 

I probably going to use jolly co-op to complete it - call on xbox gamers to help.  My son asked for help with Malenia and some guy appeared and basically did it single handedly.  Was impressive to watch. 

[Qazimod]

4 hours ago, MardiganX said:

I think I need to take a break from this. I’m up against Malakeith and each attempt is making me like the game less and less. Once again it’s an exercise in constant fucking rolling until that single window opens up to attack. It’s no fun whatsoever and makes all the brilliant progress and development up to this point feel meaningless as you have almost no options as to how you approach the battle. Sure you can change weapons, ashes, spells, etc. but it all boils down down ‘dodge roll until you can do X attack’.

 

Yeah - finding the one or two opportunities was kind of how I survived it. My Maliketh notes:

 

On 22/03/2022 at 15:08, Qazimod said:

I wasn't able to break down any sure-fire tactics like I had done with SR and MtfO, but learning to roll through "projectiles" and finding the punishable attacks helped. In particular...

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Phase 1 has that slow stab done from a standing position, and that thing where the blade is scraped on the floor in a red circle. Both feel like freebies. Phase 2 has a leaping ground stab after a double somersault which has a lot of recovery, but you need to avoid confusing it with the leaping stab that has an explosion afterwards. And so on.

It's nowhere near as infuriating as GD, but even that got better once you knew what items to use. MtBB is much more of a skill check.

 

 

 

 

[therearerules]

55 minutes ago, scottcr said:

 

I probably going to use jolly co-op to complete it - call on xbox gamers to help.  My son asked for help with Malenia and some guy appeared and basically did it single handedly.  Was impressive to watch. 

This is the way.

 

Seeing this thread at the top makes me want to play through again. Too many games...