Topic: Elden Ring Hype Thread

@woollypump yeah, sometimes it can be as simple as chilling and letting your subconscious mind unpack why you are getting smashed by a boss too. The brain can work wonders when it's not actually focused on the task at hand 😆 and if you are making progress it should be fine and click at some point.

Ah, a fellow Dex/Faith. My reasoning for mine was I'd get bored just having a sword, so wanted a bunch of spells to mix it up. I still haven't been drawn back to the DLC, but I think my character was level 200 when I finished the base game. Maybe one day, but I fear my playstyle was too powerfully cheesy with my build and my mimmick, as I'd end up beating the hardest bosses first time, and never actually learned their attack patterns. So most of the fun I got was from helping others beat bosses and learning by winning multiple times, rather than go through the punishment of losing 😅

@Ravix I was the same for the final boss in main game! Only had to slighty fudge my stats so I could use certain peices of equipment and use some buffy spells.

I'm on the final boss in the DLC, and phase two is certainly tough but not feeling impossible for me.

I've got a bit of a mixed history with final dlc bosses, as I never beat the ones in Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3.

@JohnnyShoulder haha, for me in ER, I went through the whole game looking like an emo/goth, no helmet, gear picked on looks rather than stats, but the Elden Beast, oooh, that damn thing made me dress like a snowman in a wedding dress for faith resistance 😅

Actually, I can post these to show the transformation it made me go through 😆

@Ravix I did it!

I fired it up just planning to play around for 30 mins or so without any expectation of even making progress.

I did re-spec in the end and used mimic tear plus one of the NPC summons I used Godskin Stitcher for poking from behind a shield and pierce damage, to which I added Royal Knights Resolve and Bleed affinity, and re-specced to dex/arc with just enough faith to use Golden Vow and Flame Grant Me Strength. Improved at dodging his attacks and did it!

Thoughts?

Whatever is it, I'm here day one for it!

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN I hear they are working in mulltiple titles. Let's hope at least one of them has a Mooonlight Greatsword!

Fextralife did a video on this very subject.

@JohnnyShoulder Thanks for the link man, I'll have a look at it later or at some point in the next few days hopefully.

@Th3solution Sharing some early impressions of ER as you said you'd be interested. At the site I am currently farming at, some stealth-like mechanics have been employed/are necessary in order to farm properly, as there is an enemy who will alert the whole camp if he sees you before you kill him, and another more powerful enemy who it is best to kill with two backstabs, running away/out of range in between them as he will most likely kill you at this early stage in the game if you try and tackle him directly. So maybe that is something inspired by Sekiro, as I hear there is a lot of stealth in that game - also it has a fast-paced action feel to it (the direct combat in the game as opposed to the stealth-related combat - most likely inspired by Dark Souls 3/Bloodborne).

Edit: It is also harder to farm at first, it's taking me longer to level up than in previous games as the fodder enemies drop like 60 souls each, apart from the aforementioned big bad who drops 260 , and I am not yet powerful enough to farm the 1000 soul dropping enemies who languish nearby.

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN There will be certain places where the enemies will be too strong for you, but the beauty of Elden Ring is than you can generally just go off in another direction and find some enemies that you are better to dal with. Just watch out for thr rune bears, as they can pack a punch.

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN That’s really notable about the lite stealth mechanics. Having not played Sekiro, I actually didn’t know there was substantial stealth in the FromSoft library. There’s some rudimentary stealth in Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2 with the thief ring and the spells the reduce enemy detection, but I’d never consider it much of a stealth option to rely on. More like it’s just a few tricks to get you past a tough encounter from time to time, but nothing you could build a character around.

And I’m not surprised that the game as a more action-heavy combat style like Bloodborne/DS3. I think the slower combat of the earlier games is more niche. The mainstream gamers want things more dynamic.

@JohnnyShoulder I've actually toyed with the idea of getting the DLC recently, as I thought Maliketh's Black Blade, fully upgraded, with a fully upgraded Mimic assisting me might be enough to get through it. Looks like a viable str/faith build. Thoughts?

Edit: All dependant upon reaching and defeating Maliketh, later in the game, of course.

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN Yeah I would say go for it. It came in handy for a particular 'enemy' in the dlc.

I found for late game, that I needed to boost my faith build so had to respec to use some spells and a decent greatshield.

The Blasphemous Blade is supposed to be OP for the DLC.

@JohnnyShoulder Thanks, duly noted about the BB.

On the final boas of the DLC, and beyond stuck 🥲 haven't even gotten close

@Gunnerzaurus He is horrendous for sure, and the only boss in the DLC that I had to summon help for. This was pre-patch, and it still took about 10-15 summons to find someone else that was solid enough for the 2 of us to take him down!

I understand he has recently been nerfed though and is slightly easier? Albeit still rock hard

And just like that, I finally beat it. Second try last night 😂

@Gunnerzaurus Congrats! I'd love to have the chance to try him again (post-nerf) and see if indeed From did make him easier. He's no slouch thats for sure, well done

My impression so far of Elden Ring's environments is that ,individually, they're not actually that big, each piece of the map seems to be about as big as a DeS level, but, arguably, the game as a whole seems a lot bigger b/c there are a lot more them than there are in previous Souls games.

@Yagami Probably each level pertaining to an DeS Archstone. I just love the open-world feeling to the game as well as the 'Light Souls' aesthetic of the game, based on what I've played so far, as I'm not trying to see every thing in the game I'm sure I won't face a similar form of burnout.

Edit: If that is, indeed, what you have experienced.

@Yagami Yeah, it's definitely not balanced for solo players, you are intended to use Spirit Ashes for sure. But I feel that FromSoft wanted to do something different with this game, and make it more accessible for new players, if that means trivializing boss encounters for some, it opens up new doorways for other ,some would say more "casual", players.