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StarTopic Elden Ring |ST| Go Outside and Touch Grace
- Thread starter merp
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Playing around again with summoning and different items is a weird experience. On one hand for some of the big bosses they put in a lot of thought to how the movesets can swap between players. On the other hand, things still feel pretty poorly balanced if they are indeed supposed to be core to most fights. I definitely think they designed around 1v1 for most encounters, then just added a touch of aggro switch to combos to compensate for the system. That's still pretty good, but the balancing gulf between summon vs no summon is too goofy.
The system being so prevalent points to them wanting it to be used a lot, while the actual experience of using it makes me think they didn't design around it being used too heavily. Weird choices all around, unless they really just want to shove this as the difficulty equalizer in as obvious a way as possible. Summons are cool and fun at least.
Magic doesn't feel all that overpowered compared to melee btw. Certain Ashes of War make magic look fairly tame in comparison actually. Outside of using those, melee still has a lot of better options available to it. Have you tried jumping and hitting heavy? Magic does eventually scale up to be pretty strong, but if you all in on a melee spec with a decent idea of what you want it's really not too different strength wise. Melee builds just require more thought than upgrading your weapon. Ashes, status effects, power stance, posture breaks, armor abuse, Physick buffs, shields, etc go a very long way to making it all really powerful. Not to mention melee builds can easily spare enough points to get some of the really busted Faith buffs or Beast attacks to make them bonkers.
The system being so prevalent points to them wanting it to be used a lot, while the actual experience of using it makes me think they didn't design around it being used too heavily. Weird choices all around, unless they really just want to shove this as the difficulty equalizer in as obvious a way as possible. Summons are cool and fun at least.
Magic doesn't feel all that overpowered compared to melee btw. Certain Ashes of War make magic look fairly tame in comparison actually. Outside of using those, melee still has a lot of better options available to it. Have you tried jumping and hitting heavy? Magic does eventually scale up to be pretty strong, but if you all in on a melee spec with a decent idea of what you want it's really not too different strength wise. Melee builds just require more thought than upgrading your weapon. Ashes, status effects, power stance, posture breaks, armor abuse, Physick buffs, shields, etc go a very long way to making it all really powerful. Not to mention melee builds can easily spare enough points to get some of the really busted Faith buffs or Beast attacks to make them bonkers.
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afternoon delight
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If you clear out a certain Fort in the south for a very loud clout (I can get more specific if you want) you will find a very cool dagger that scales with faith. That's all I've found so far!
Amadeus
Starman
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Oohh thank you so much ! I'm really interested in a lighter weapon than the winged scythe I'm using. Maybe you could spoiler-tag the specific area and mob ?
afternoon delight
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Clear out
Fort Haight
Kenneth Haight
Fort Haight is south of the minor Erdtree in Limgrave.
D
Deleted member 2349
Guest
sellan's quest line is cool as hell, just wrapped it up. make sure to check back in with her after the end
what's the secret related to Seluvis that folks were talking about earlier?
what's the secret related to Seluvis that folks were talking about earlier?
- Pronouns
- He/Him
My only real complaint so far about weapons and builds is that while ashes of war are really cool, and getting more options with new whetstones and such is nice, I feel like 95% of the weapons I want to use are unique/somber and so ashes can’t be used on them. It kind of makes finding new ashes of war a bit deflating
WhyS
#TeamJanuary
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It's time to give FromSoft the respect it deserves for its elevators. In not just this game, but all the other Souls games, they make sure to do one small thing that makes their elevators the best in gaming, that being the fact that you never have to turn around on them.
For example, let's say there's a room with an elevator. You enter the room from the south and stand on the button for the elevator. In that situation, the door at the top of the elevator will always be to the north. It will never be to the east. It will never be to the west. It will never be behind you back south. It will always be to the north.
Similarly, if you enter an elevator room from the west, the door at the top of the elevator will always be to the east, and so on.
I love that. I first noticed it back in Dark Souls 1 (I still haven't played Demon's Souls) and I've loved it ever since. It has carried through all their games and it's a nice dedication to a good game design decision.
For example, let's say there's a room with an elevator. You enter the room from the south and stand on the button for the elevator. In that situation, the door at the top of the elevator will always be to the north. It will never be to the east. It will never be to the west. It will never be behind you back south. It will always be to the north.
Similarly, if you enter an elevator room from the west, the door at the top of the elevator will always be to the east, and so on.
I love that. I first noticed it back in Dark Souls 1 (I still haven't played Demon's Souls) and I've loved it ever since. It has carried through all their games and it's a nice dedication to a good game design decision.
- Pronouns
- She/They
There's a spot up in the ruins by those rises, where an illusory floor exists. Go smack it to find a basement. Inside the basement is a bunch of puppets, some you might recognize. If you do the first part of his quest then ask him about it, he'll tell you a bit about what he wants to do and his plot to turn a certain powerful somebody into a puppet. It goes on from there.
I kinda am okay with it tbh. Special weapons being, well, special and making you think about if you want to build into them or not is fine. Using a generic with one of those movesets you like and modifying it to fit what you want to do feels more "right" in giving you meaningful decisions about gear. That's just me though, I could see how people would wanna full on crazy with everything else you can do.
D
Deleted member 2484
Guest
I arrived in The Forbidden Lands last night. Nice to have a pay off for Millicent and her fancy new arm. I'll look forward to bashing that big boy with her this evening.
Also, snow!
Also, snow!
Amadeus
Starman
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Thank you, this will help me a lot !
- Pronouns
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I’ve played this game for 55 hours and have only beaten Godrick, Rennala and Radahn in terms of demigod bosses, lmao
Sometimes I feel so beat down by the difficulty but… I just wanna keep playing? It’s so daunting but I’m constantly looking up stuff like weapons and builds. I’m totally engaged in it, despite only having played 1/3 of Bloodborne.
Like i feel there’s so many options that nothing feels impossible.
The biggest thing that stresses me out at the end of the day is stats. I see everyone talking about specific builds, I’m just kinda putting points where it feels right and hoping it doesn’t come back to bite
I feel like I’m leaning towards STR build but idk if that’s good. I wanna use magic too! So many options!!!
Sometimes I feel so beat down by the difficulty but… I just wanna keep playing? It’s so daunting but I’m constantly looking up stuff like weapons and builds. I’m totally engaged in it, despite only having played 1/3 of Bloodborne.
Like i feel there’s so many options that nothing feels impossible.
The biggest thing that stresses me out at the end of the day is stats. I see everyone talking about specific builds, I’m just kinda putting points where it feels right and hoping it doesn’t come back to bite
I feel like I’m leaning towards STR build but idk if that’s good. I wanna use magic too! So many options!!!
Leica
Chain Chomp
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- he/him
Malenia
WhyS
#TeamJanuary
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You'll be fine, don't worry about your build and just listen to your heart. When I played Dark Souls 1, I was shocked that it was an RPG and I was completely unprepared for thinking of any builds. My stats were a total disaster, but once I got the hang of the gameplay, it wasn't any harder than the other Souls games. The thing with builds is that they're fun to work towards, and yes there will be benefits as you work towards them, but the full power of them won't be unleashed until the late game when you have all the stats in place and have the right equipment that's fully upgraded, as well as all the spells if you're a mage and all the accessories. However, these games do not require such planning. Again, it will help, and yes these games are challenging and will punish you when they get the chance, but they are also well-designed and have a ton of viable strategies. The only "build" you need to worry about is what's working for you. (And if you actually feel like you've done goofed, you can always respec atI’ve played this game for 55 hours and have only beaten Godrick, Rennala and Radahn in terms of demigod bosses, lmao
Sometimes I feel so beat down by the difficulty but… I just wanna keep playing? It’s so daunting but I’m constantly looking up stuff like weapons and builds. I’m totally engaged in it, despite only having played 1/3 of Bloodborne.
Like i feel there’s so many options that nothing feels impossible.
The biggest thing that stresses me out at the end of the day is stats. I see everyone talking about specific builds, I’m just kinda putting points where it feels right and hoping it doesn’t come back to bite
Rennala.)
Also, I used to be stressed playing these games too. I couldn't play Dark Souls 1 or 2 for long periods of time because I would be so scared. Not because of spookiness, but because even when I was doing, the games seemed so daunting that they would stress me out. I kept playing them because I was still having a great time, and eventually I became confident in myself and no longer stressed. You'll get there too. It took me a lot longer than 55 hours gain any confidence.
medic
In Disguise
you can always roll new characters to fiddle around. took me 3 tries to figure out how i wanted to do things. at the very least try playing astrologer before you dump points into intelligence on your "main" save. you might find that you hate just pressing magic missile over and over again, which is what a lot of sorcery heavy fights turn into when you accidentally grind a little too much* (or when the summon AI actually works).I’ve played this game for 55 hours and have only beaten Godrick, Rennala and Radahn in terms of demigod bosses, lmao
Sometimes I feel so beat down by the difficulty but… I just wanna keep playing? It’s so daunting but I’m constantly looking up stuff like weapons and builds. I’m totally engaged in it, despite only having played 1/3 of Bloodborne.
Like i feel there’s so many options that nothing feels impossible.
The biggest thing that stresses me out at the end of the day is stats. I see everyone talking about specific builds, I’m just kinda putting points where it feels right and hoping it doesn’t come back to bite
* yes you still have to dodge, care about positioning, etc. you're not totally skipping the combat, just kind of skipping it. that counts as "intelligent play" in any other RPG though so don't feel bad if that's what you decide to do
romanithegreat
Piranha Plant
Thanks did Just that and made it to the acadamy and beat red wolf after a few attempts
TurtleRock
Moblin
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- He/Him/His
I beat that today! I used everything at my disposal to do it too. Fully upgraded weapon that does good stagger damage, mimic tear, hoarfrost stomp. Physik potion that let me recover my FP and have infinite FP for a set period of time. It basically came down to attrition and stagger/hoarfrost spam. It was pretty satisfying coming up with a strategy to take down the boss but that being said, the fight is way overturned. I was level 140 and I felt powerless still. Don’t care if people think this a cheese strat either. I don’t have the skill to fight her like an old Souls boss. Honestly I think the boss will get nerfed.
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I don't think that boss is unfair generally, until the one move comes out. I can no hit the rest of the fight consistently except for that thing. You can consistently avoid it if you run away after every hit you land, but that's crap. Using weapon arts and sprint dodge are the best options otherwise. I think if they were to make it so that move didn't travel/track as hard as it does the fight would be totally fair and improve drastically. It's really the only thing in the game that stands out to me like that at least.
Leica
Chain Chomp
- Pronouns
- he/him
I used bloodhound step and it makes dodging that move somewhat consistent if you can actually predict it's coming. It's pretty cheesy (in phase 1 at least) but they only really let it rip when you make an input, you can throw kukris at her from range and she'll eventually just do it and it's easy to avoid then My problem is that my damage sucks ass and I'm stubborn idiot who refuses to use spirit ashes and the broken WAs. I still haven't actually beat it and I'm probably gonna take a few weeks off to play other stuff instead because the boss is souring my opinion on the game big time.
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I did it with just a normal old LS, no summons or arts myself. What's your level/wep upgrade at to have too low damage? Mine was not amazing, but not so bad as to make the fight too much of a grind.
Guaraná
Paratroopa
accidentally I ended up in a place called Siofra River Well I was already playing for over three hours and was tired as f*, so I died due to lack of attention two times and lost 22000 runes.
I got so mad that I got out of that place, transporting myself to Ainsel River Well and from there to the "normal map".
so, the question is... how hard is that place? I'm currently a mage lvl 60.
I'm planning to get back there tomorrow, that location seems to be huge.
I got so mad that I got out of that place, transporting myself to Ainsel River Well and from there to the "normal map".
so, the question is... how hard is that place? I'm currently a mage lvl 60.
I'm planning to get back there tomorrow, that location seems to be huge.
- Pronouns
- She/They
First place you named can be as done as early as 30-40, probably 60 is around where you start to be really powerful down there.
FWIW levels outside of vigor are pretty meaningless until end game scaling kicks in, so it's better to look at how upgraded your gear is when going to an area. Once you're in the Smithing Stone 3-4 area you're probably fine down there.
romanithegreat
Piranha Plant
Defeated Renala! took me quite a few tries but I finally took her down
Guaraná
Paratroopa
ok, that's good
- Pronouns
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I finally found where Fia went, that was…. not what I expected.
You’re telling me there’s a guy called the Prince of Death in this game and he’s NOT actually a boss? Or maybe that depends on your decision with Fia?
Also I now regret giving D’s brother his armor
You’re telling me there’s a guy called the Prince of Death in this game and he’s NOT actually a boss? Or maybe that depends on your decision with Fia?
Also I now regret giving D’s brother his armor
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She sicced a bunch of champions on me, which I thought was very rude. Also she killed D and he was kind of a bro, so I killed her after her champions lol
No idea what the consequences will be!
No idea what the consequences will be!
- Pronouns
- He/him
God Radahn is such a pain in the ass for me. Most of the strategies I've read/been told by friends say to just let the summons take care of him, but I've been having terrible luck where they die before doing much damage and don't respawn fast enough. I did manage to reach his second phase a few times but that's been rare.
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If you have a way of inflicting rot (arrows, pots, Rotten Breath Incantation), he's apparently super susceptible to that. Actually kinda clever, given he's already basically been mostly eaten away by the rot.
But yeah at the risk of sounding like a broken record it's not a particularly fun fight and there's a lot of RNG in whether he focuses on the summons, giving you windows in which to pile on damage, or just beelines straight for you.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I grinded to level 40, but it really didn't do much difference. Maybe at first, when I killed some sort of dog with scythes pretty easily. But then I went to that first castle and the same 2 people nailed me over 15 times. It's not that I don't click with the combat, I have the rhythm down, but I just.. keep dying a lot. And lose runes. A lot of runes. And I think that sort of kneecaps the exploration for me personally. And the losing runes thing is more or less a deal-breaker for me. I get easily stressed and anxious in games, so I guess the philosophy of this game isn't for me. "But Irene, didn't you LOVE Sekiro?" - yes I did, but I think that there's a big difference between the games in terms of flow, tactility and the fact that Sekiro is linear.
So I dropped the game. However, after I dropped it, I've now watched a 2.5 hour speed run because at this point, I don't care much for spoilers. And holy DAMN some of the later locations in the world blew my mind.
The
in particular, was positively astonishing. And some of the set pieces - WOW.
I know people are probably tired of the easy mode (and pause button, and quest log) discourse right now, but if the game had all three, I would personally like it so much more.
So I dropped the game. However, after I dropped it, I've now watched a 2.5 hour speed run because at this point, I don't care much for spoilers. And holy DAMN some of the later locations in the world blew my mind.
The
capital surrounding the big tree, and the giants in the mountains and that chalice with chains stuck to it
in particular, was positively astonishing. And some of the set pieces - WOW.
I know people are probably tired of the easy mode (and pause button, and quest log) discourse right now, but if the game had all three, I would personally like it so much more.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I wanted a hug, so I decided to be nice to her. Do you still fight Fortissax if she dies?
- Pronouns
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I haven't fought that boss, so gonna guess no.
- Pronouns
- She/They
AFAIK that ship has sailed once she's already dead. I think it's possible to give the armor over and finish the questline before she gets got, but if she's dead Idk how you're supposed to keep it going.
- Pronouns
- He/him
I did get Rotten Breath but I don't have enough FP to actually use it long enough to infect him, lmao. I do think I'll grind a bit to up my FP to maybe try that. But yeah, there's just too much RNG regarding whether or not the summons draw aggro or even do any damage it seems. I really want to get past this because I know he's gating some really cool stuff.
- Pronouns
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Spoilers for the area post-capital and the upper eastern Siofra area:
I was wondering why Mohg, the Omen didn't seem all that bad and thought he may be the Lord of Blood until I beat him. Fast forward to getting to the Mohgwyn Palace, and... oh. There it is. Plus that second phase that it kind of felt like he was missing.
Is there some kind of lore reason why the horned beings like Mohg and Margit/Morgott are fought twice? Like their real bodies were always at the second fight location and you just fought a lesser version of them, or something?
Is there some kind of lore reason why the horned beings like Mohg and Margit/Morgott are fought twice? Like their real bodies were always at the second fight location and you just fought a lesser version of them, or something?
- Pronouns
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Morgott makes sense, he just likes messing with the tarnished early on and things get out of hand for him. You can find easter eggs of him messing around and fight him just outside the capitol if you missed that. He's literally just projecting himself around to try and make your life hard until he decides you need to die.
Mohg I got nothing on. There's some messed up stuff going on down where you find him, and there are lore reasons for the Omen Bros to be guarding important shit in the Capitol. If I had to guess he's just projecting a lesser version of himself down there like all the mages seem to be doing, to cover his job and maybe hide where he's really at since he's up to the biggest evil. Actual reason is probably just he's a good asset to reuse and it gets people asking if there's more to all that so they might start looking.
Mohg I got nothing on. There's some messed up stuff going on down where you find him, and there are lore reasons for the Omen Bros to be guarding important shit in the Capitol. If I had to guess he's just projecting a lesser version of himself down there like all the mages seem to be doing, to cover his job and maybe hide where he's really at since he's up to the biggest evil. Actual reason is probably just he's a good asset to reuse and it gets people asking if there's more to all that so they might start looking.
On the same topic, asset reuse in this game goes to absolutely hilarious lengths by end game that really makes me lean on "they just needed to put something there" as the answer to far too many lore questions.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Makes sense. And honestly I don't mind that at all, for such a massive game you can't really NOT have asset reuse. I'm already very impressed by the enemy and boss variety, it doesn't really start to get repetitive until closer to the end of the game. At least assuming I'm nearing the end of the game, but I honestly have no idea how much more I have to go.
Guaraná
Paratroopa
ok guys, I need some help here.
But first here is some context to where I am and my experience so far.
I'm lvl 63 and I'm about to enter the academy (just got that Glinstone key nearby, killing the Smarag dragon).
I have 41 in Intelligence and so far it paid really well since I am really powerful against every single boss I met so far, but I think I'm done with it... I'm finding it very difficult to use other equipment because my other stats are far from great and I'm afraid I'm gonna start needing a different approach towards enemies sooner or later and I would like to start improving something else to be prepared for that.
But I don't what should I start leveling up from now.
Here is my character stats so far:
So, what should I do?
But first here is some context to where I am and my experience so far.
I'm lvl 63 and I'm about to enter the academy (just got that Glinstone key nearby, killing the Smarag dragon).
I have 41 in Intelligence and so far it paid really well since I am really powerful against every single boss I met so far, but I think I'm done with it... I'm finding it very difficult to use other equipment because my other stats are far from great and I'm afraid I'm gonna start needing a different approach towards enemies sooner or later and I would like to start improving something else to be prepared for that.
But I don't what should I start leveling up from now.
Here is my character stats so far:
So, what should I do?
D
Deleted member 2
Guest
If you are doing your second legacy dungeon you are definitely not halfway done
- Pronouns
- She/They
Pick a weapon scaling stat like Strength/Dexterity and start pumping it. Dex is looking like the better candidate for you, and it also speed up cast times so it's a popular choice. If you need enough strength to use a weapon, you can 2 hand to have the 1.5x boost to a requirement, or add enough points to use something you find reasonable for your build. Grab some endurance as well, so you can equip heavier things if you want to and have the stamina.
Endgame goal will look something like:
Vigor - at least 40
Mind - however much you need
Endurance - whatever you need for equip load you want
Primary scaler(STR/DEX/INT/FTH) - 50-60 (70 INT if you want the big spell)
Secondary scaler (STR/DEX/INT/FTH) - at least 20
Arcane - mostly ignored unless you specifically have an arcane scaling build which is quite niche
That's what most "normal" builds in this game end up looking like eventually. Quality/Dual cast builds where you do 40/40 split on your scalers used to be a thing too, but they are way weaker now and I do not recommend them. Also note it's generally better to hit reqs on weapons you want to use first, then get a decent amount of Vig/Mind/End. Until your scaling damage stats get into the 40s and weapons have B+ scaling, wep upgrade base stats will be the highest damage gains. As a caster, finding the "correct" catalyst also really helps out.
Guaraná
Paratroopa
ok, this was awesome.
Thnks a lot!
Leica
Chain Chomp
- Pronouns
- he/him
Honestly if you're struggling in this game I'd say get that vigor up to like 60 even, it softcaps at 60 compared to 40 in most Souls games (I think) and even after 60 it's still like twice as effective as it used to be in the previous games before ER. Easier to achieve if you don't need to invest in int/faith/mind but you can feel the difference.
Tatsu
Moblin
- Pronouns
- Unsure
Oh shoot i completed it today and worked my way through a few other optional areas then whew this game might push 200 hours
