Topic: Elden Ring Hype Thread

@Yousef- A couple of the bosses in the "Elden Ring" DLC - Gaius and Consort Radahn (and a friend of mine also complained about the giant hippopotamus ) have hit boxes egregious even for a FromSoft game - I speak from VERY recent experience. I don't think there's any excuse for moves/combos that are for all intents and purposes unavoidable.

That’s interesting, thanks for verifying!

I've bought Elden Ring this morning and intend to start it later today. Any advice for a complete novice and serial souls abandoner? Currently absorbing a few starting guides across the internet.

@AgentCooper
Ooh enjoy, 'tis a great game.
My advice is to not get hit, Classic advice. Also if a boss/area is too tough then go somewhere else and come back when you are stronger. From loves to troll people, hmm teach people that running away is sometimes the best solution.

@AgentCooper excited for you dude, a modern great that I’m sure you’ll enjoy. The only advice I’d give is to maybe do a bit of research on builds before you start, so you can begin crafting your character straight off the bat.

I just went straight UGS (or Colossal Swords as theyre referred to in Elden Ring) as I always do, when I played it but remember seeing a load of stuff about the Rivers of Blood build that supposedly cut through bosses like a hot knife through butter. I know that you’re still relatively new to souls-likes, so it might be worth your while maximising your potential to get the most from it.

@AgentCooper Upgrade your Vigor (health) and Endurance (stamina) which will help you early doors.
Equip talismans that boost your leveled up stats, as there is not much point in boosting say Intelligence if you don't use any weapons that need it.
Once you have a weapon you find useful, concentrate on upgrading the stats that scale with it. For instance, most Katanas (which Rivers of Blood is one them but you probably won't get that till later on) scale best with Dexterity, so when you level that up your damage for those weapons will increase the most.

@CaptD @colonelkilgore Oh I'm a dab hand at running away and I'm buoyed by the fact there seems to be options in the open world if you hit a roadblock on the critical path. I'm already melting my head with build choices and strategies. Being a tad OP is probably preferable so I stand a chance of staying the course. I'll have a look at the builds you suggested Col, thanks 👍

@JohnnyShoulder Sage advice, thank you. I'm most definitely faffing at the moment and just need to start the damn thing before my anxiety gets the better of me.

@AgentCooper I would’nt go Colossal Sword mate, although it’s my preference I wouldn’t consider any builds around the weapon type particularly strong. The Rivers of Blood build is a build that you can complete pretty far into the game but if you know the stat requirements going in, you can have everything in -lace by the time you have access to the weapon.

@colonelkilgore I'm currently being wooed by a samurai build with the bleed as it might encourage me to play more aggressively and the bow to thin the herd 🤔

@AgentCooper sounds perfect for someone new to the genre mate, think that would work well.

@AgentCooper Good luck, tarnished.

A bleed build is a solid choice, it is what got me through most of the game.

There are also buffs which you can craft, but you will need recipes from cookbooks found around the world. It is something I've only really delved into playing the DLC.

@AgentCooper take your time. don't worry about all the new and strange items you find. you'll figure everything out in time. samurai build is very good. have fun.
oh by the way, whenever you found yourself in an area with red sky, you can drop the game. no worries, totally understandable.

@AgentCooper Welcome to ER!

Its a great game, and honestly it can also be pretty forgiving in terms of difficulty (especially vs other games in the genre).

My #1 tip would be this - early game, focus initially on placing your early level-up stats into - - > Vigor (aka health bar). Perhaps even get your Vigor to level ~30 before you start increasing any damage stats and/or endurance.

Early game can be fairly brutal, and survivability is maybe the greatest currency in those beginning areas. In terms of damage output, weapon upgrades will do you well (whilst you invest level-up stats in health). Then once vigor is high enough, you can invest in your chosen damage/magic stat as well as endurance

EDIT - For reference, most players look to finish the game at around ~60 vigor. Unless you're an Elden Ring God player (for reference, I am certainly not this!) then 60 vigor is pretty decent, allows you to take a few hits before being wiped out. Also, assuming you'll get to the DLC... 60 vigor IMO would be the minimum to go in with, as most enemies can 1-2 shot you (prior to collecting the Scadutree upgrade items)

@CthulhuFhtagn @CJD87 Thanks a lot, appreciate the advice, I’m trying my hardest to just relax and soak it up rather than let anxiety ruin the experience. If I unlock new Ashes of War do they, for example replace my Unsheathe? I wasn’t sure if I’d lose it permanently.

Spent a few hours in the opening area now and don’t think I’ve made massive progress but I’m not too worried. I’ve managed to upgrade my Uchigatana and push my Vigor up a couple of levels. The Samurai class is a lot of fun so far, Ghost of Tsushima was almost my next game so this is definitely scratching that itch. In love with the world and lore being introduced so far, can’t wait to push on 👍

@AgentCooper Yeah correct but you won't lose Unsheathe as you swap them out as you please. You pick up loads as you explore, and tou can duplicate them once you have unlocked the blacksmith.

It is something else I've only dabbled in during the end game and dlc. I had so many maxes out weapons that had different Ashes of War that I was able to cope ok.

Another tip, make sure you add shortcuts for your flasks and other useful items you use regularly. It makes like much easier than the default method trying to regenerate your health during mid fight.

I've stuck to my guns, avoided reading anything online and managed to play through the DLC blind. Well.....up to the final boss that is. I've found every area (not every scadutree fragment/ ash though), beaten every boss - without needing to resort to multiplayer/ coop but using every other tool availabl. However, it feels like the final boss is just beyond me. I even tried summoning help last night and it didn't help that much. I can get through the first phase pretty consistently and often without using many or any flasks but after that....

Might be Sekiro all over again (I never managed the final boss).

@woollypump in the base game I found my build that I just casually made up on the fly was really good at melting bosses, until the final boss which I just kept getting blitzed by 75% of the way through. So, I just decided to go to sleep and the next day I changed some of my abilities and gear and it really helped get over the line eventually.

Not sure if it's applicable here, but sometimes time away and a new approach, or even a full respec, will unlock new opportunities in the fights. Good luck either way

@Ravix I think part of it is that I haven't been in the right frame of mind for it since I made it to the final boss on Sunday evening. I broke my blind playthrough and did look into strategies to beat him but I am a bit loath to respec drastically (from current dex/ faith). I did do a bit better at avoiding attacks in the second phase last night so it's not like I'm making zero progress. Ironically perhaps I really liked that the DLC forced me to experiment more with different weapons, incantations, spirit ashes etc... to beat bosses. This was my experimental build to play around with incantations. I still have my "main" charachter which is pure strength + big hammer ready to play the DLC, but i was planning to have a break from ER after beating the DLC and re-play it down the line with that character.