t1337duder
Gawd
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Thanks. Could have sworn I fully investigated that area again but I clearly forgot about the side passage leading back to the main gate. This game is so massive - it's incredibly easy to miss things!
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Elden Ring (From Software RPG)
- Thread starter polonyc2
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harsaphes
Supreme [H]ardness
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I picked up a 100 percent damage shield somewhere. Dont ask me where.Haha, I would not suggest Sekiro for a first timer
Probably just pick up Dark Souls 1 or Demon's Souls remake (if you have a PS5) and kick around in that for awhile. To get a sense of what these games want from you. Demon's Souls opening training level and then Boletaria Castle's first area, are a fantastic traning primer for souls games. Demon's Souls is legendary for a reason, afterall.
Also, Elden Ring isn't trolling. Its teaching you from the very beginning, that you aren't supposed to be face every single thing you come across---the moment you first come across it. This is a large world which you are meant to explore and move around in. And if you come across an enemy or an area which is too harsh for you-----go somewhere else and come back later (or try to sneak past it or run past it). You haven't always been able to do that in Dark Souls games. You can sometimes, but not to the degree of freedom which Elden Ring's world allows.
Eventually, just about any character will become strong enough and the player will learn enough, to survive a long time. And even "mow" through some enemies.
From the very start, the 3 easiest starting classes to "mow" through some early enemies are the Vagabond, The Hero, and the Astronomer. Tor starting physical damage, the Hero hits the hardest but, their starting shield is not 100% physical damage blocking. The vagabond doesn't hit quite as hard, but does have a 100% phsyical block shield and better armor. The Astronomer has two attack magic spells. You have to manage your magic bar and you can't take hits. But...you can kill a lot of early enemies from a distance.
harsaphes
Supreme [H]ardness
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Whats everyones favorite summons so far? I have the wolves, the jellyfish, rotten stray (fav), a bunch of meandering guys, forget the name. Great so far. Dont forget you can actually UPGRADE your summons.
That's what drew me away from it. I don't mind a difficult game, but at least give me a little ramp up. I played for an hour and must have died 50 times. However I think I went in a complete wrong direction.
Steam gives you 2h to refund the game and I just wasn't feeling it for $60. I slept on it an am tempted to retry it, but iunno. I'd like to enjoy it. Just wasn't clicking for me.
Does it get to a point where you can farm areas and mobs for gear, or is it just pushing further and further?
SeymourGore
Supreme [H]ardness
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Yeah there's a couple of grinding areas to build up runes. Also exploring is almost always worthwhile to find something that makes you more powerful.
mmk. spent a couple hours this morning learning more about this.
I'm stuck on getting weapons. I started an Astrologer but what sucks is running out of FP.
Killed some beast dude in a cave with wolves. I got a thing that helps fire resist?
Got my horse.
I went into that stronghold beyond the gates and fought Skeletor a whole bunch of times. I killed him and he dropped a sword I couldn't equip. The dudes just beyond him killed me though and now I have to fight Skeletor all over again. =/
Got that bell thing for summons so I have wolves.
Cleared that little encampment just beyond the church. Found the map. Went into the little basement dealio and got something in there.
I understand how runes work now. Its exp.
Not entirely sure which stats I should be leveling up. I put one into dex because I guess that helps me equip higher gear. Then Int was the other one.
Running out of FP sucks though. Wish there was some form of regen or something. I'm stuck with my starter sword just get bashed in. I may go back to a more physical character. I thought I'd be able to continue casting.
Its a learning curve. I'll get more into it.
I'm stuck on getting weapons. I started an Astrologer but what sucks is running out of FP.
Killed some beast dude in a cave with wolves. I got a thing that helps fire resist?
Got my horse.
I went into that stronghold beyond the gates and fought Skeletor a whole bunch of times. I killed him and he dropped a sword I couldn't equip. The dudes just beyond him killed me though and now I have to fight Skeletor all over again. =/
Got that bell thing for summons so I have wolves.
Cleared that little encampment just beyond the church. Found the map. Went into the little basement dealio and got something in there.
I understand how runes work now. Its exp.
Not entirely sure which stats I should be leveling up. I put one into dex because I guess that helps me equip higher gear. Then Int was the other one.
Running out of FP sucks though. Wish there was some form of regen or something. I'm stuck with my starter sword just get bashed in. I may go back to a more physical character. I thought I'd be able to continue casting.
Its a learning curve. I'll get more into it.
It's a trap, throwing you into an area you way over your head. All you have to do, is sprint to the nearest 'site of grace' (ignore enemies and run around them), light it, then walk outside the dungeon and fast travel back to the beginning area of the game. And continue on with your journey. If you run into tough mobs you can't beat, simply go around them, ignore them until you are leveled up a bit them come back later.
(you can fast travel instantly to any site of grace from almost anywhere in the game that's outdoors, and even many indoor areas)
(there is a button you can hold to sprint, I don't know the KB/M controls) (your horse can sprint too, same button)
Don't be afraid of dying in souls games. It's a part of the game, it's intended - it's not a 'failure'.
At any site of grace you can go into the 'flasks' submenu and select how many healing flasks you want and how many mana flasks you want. So you can refill your mana when out. (also same menu to turn in items to increase the number or effectiveness of flasks)
As for stats I don't play casters but generally some vigor is good so you can survive a hit or two, and some endurance is good so you can roll to evade damage (or wear better equipment without being overweight)
Don't worry about breaking your character, you will be able to respec multiple times later in the game if need be.
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Blackstone
2[H]4U
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So I started playing and got my ass absolutely beat to a pulp by a mounted guy who just one hits me. This is like Breath of the Wild except every enemy is a Lynel. Hard!
Colonel Sanders
Supreme [H]ardness
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remember you can go around enemies/bosses. don't fall into the newbie trap of thinking you have to kill everything you come cross, the moment you come across it. leave, explore, level up, find gear, upgrade gear, etc.
Ah, I'll check out the flasks deal.
Where does gear come from? Just keep farming bosses? I killed that Skeletor thing again but it didn't drop anything. I got some gloves off one of the guards in the little camp area near the church.
Colonel Sanders
Supreme [H]ardness
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you're already doing this, but yeah, just remember there's always more to just "git gud" in From games (maybe excepting Sekiro...) although you're gonna have to git gud to some extent no matter what you do. that's part of the fun!
these are the basics that i think are critical for Souls newbies:
- you don't always have to keep fighting something or trying to clear an area if it's kicking your ass, at least not right away (especially true in Elden Ring). i think this is the single biggest thing that intimidates newbies because they're SO used to the way most games funnel you directly to your next challenge that you are meant to tackle, while in Elden Ring they do the exact opposite and put you directly in the path of an enemy (Tree Sentinel) who will clap your asscheeks instantly if you go straight for him.
- remember to keep an eye on your "equipment load" that you can see in the equipment menu on the right side of the screen. being at high loads (aka "fat rolling") is VERY not good so do what you can to keep it to medium load or less. if you desperately want to use heavier armor or weapons, raise the relevant stat (endurance in ER)
- remember that rolling backwards is not the only evasive maneuver you have at your disposal. sometimes rolling *towards* the enemy or to the side is the better move. don't forget the 'backstep' which is just tapping the roll button once without moving at the same time - sometimes the best move is the backstep if it's all you need to clear an enemy's attack, because it gives you more opportunity to deal damage. also, understand that enemies' attacks aren't always huge sweeping moves with large area of effect - sometimes they *look* like they're going to be giant one-shotting AOE but it's actually tiny AOE and you don't even need a backstep, just casually walk out of its way and that gives you maximum opportunity for attacking.
- learn/practice guard counters and parrying. they aren't always the right way to approach an enemy but you should always keep it in mind, provided you have the appropriate gear. check out youtube for how to do it and practice.
- don't forget ranged combat, of any kind. it's very often useful to have some kind of throwing weapon - even if it's just the basic bone darts or whatever - to draw a single enemy to you without alerting any others near it. if you can, keep a bow or crossbow at the ready because they're not just useful for drawing enemies to you, they can be superb ways to deal damage and apply special effects like poison. it's important to remember that you don't need to be some high dex crazy ranged-focused build to make use of bows/crossbows effectively. of course the right sorceries or incantations can work the same way too.
- use items and consumables. keep track of what consumables you're picking up, and in ER, always buy the cookbooks (or at least check them when you find them for sale to see what they unlock for crafting.) thoughtful use of items can often turn the most difficult battles into trivial ones.
there's lots more to think about too (like multiplayer summoning systems) but i think these are the things newbies tend to ignore because they get too focused on playing these games like traditional, standard fare 3rd person action RPGs where you can almost always get away with simply timing attacks and dodges and leveling up, and then they get frustrated and quit when they learn that's not enough.
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Comixbooks
Fully [H]
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Guess this streamer got banned from pvp for 12 hours.
Mchart
Supreme [H]ardness
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I mean, why bother playing PVP if you aren't going to deal with the broken elements of it. Personally, I don't see the point of PVP in this game. It's never going to be balanced across all the different weapon types, etc.
Colonel Sanders
Supreme [H]ardness
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in all my time playing souls games i don't think i ever encountered an invader who wasnt fully meta, and either whipped my basic ass with some crazy op build, or annoyed me with a build designed specifically to piss me off (looking at you, "break all your gear in 2 or 3 hits" corrosive spear bullshit)
Mchart
Supreme [H]ardness
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At the end of the day these aren't PVP/Multiplayer games. FROM keeps shoe-horning it in, but let's be real.. The balance is just completely screwed. I'll be honest, I think they'd be better off just leaving the message system, occasionally seeing the ghosts of other players, and the blood stains in. The rest of coop/PVP stuff, just trash it and move on. These are intended to be singleplayer games, just focus development on that. I can't imagine how many development man-hours must be wasted to balance out the coop/PVP aspects of these games, when that could just be focused on more content for a singleplayer game.
Funny this was just brought up. I think I just PvP'd. Some dude with a red name and a big red fire axe thing. We dueled it out, I was one hit away and he got me. I went back and we dueled it out again and I got him. I got some Hunter's thing that breaks stamina on block or something.
I don't get anything about this game, haha.
I'm also on this windy mountain fighting giants.
I don't get anything about this game, haha.
I'm also on this windy mountain fighting giants.
Comixbooks
Fully [H]
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Click on this to see OP Mage kill a dragon in seconds.
There are NPC invaders meant to mimic PVP but they always appear in the same area, that’s what you encountered. The only way you can be invaded is by placing a finger to call for coop help which opens you up to the chance to be invaded. Or you can place a dueling finger if you are specifically looking for PVP, or an invading finger if that’s your thing.
Ashes are items which you can apply to a weapon to give you a skill. You can apply/remove them at blacksmiths or crafting benches - how useful they are will depend on your stat layout.
Mchart
Supreme [H]ardness
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There's an entire zone to the south you can explore first before dealing with the castle. You ought to do that first.
harsaphes
Supreme [H]ardness
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If I'm not mistaken you can use them at Grace spots.
Very impressive for a first time Souls player - that boss is the first roadblock most players will run into, as the game points you in that direction even when you're low level - but there are entire areas you can clear/explore/complete in the south before going back there.
The tutorial teaches you stealth, backstabs, jump attacks and guard counters which are all quite useful throughout the game.
Did you use the NPC summons for Margit? There's one you can use to your right just before you go into his area. (Plus your own)
You get more magic power if you put levels into mind.
There's also a decent farming spot in the Farum Greatbridge area. (Mobs are 1094 runes each but hit hard so best at ranged and higher level)
You get more magic power if you put levels into mind.
There's also a decent farming spot in the Farum Greatbridge area. (Mobs are 1094 runes each but hit hard so best at ranged and higher level)
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Yep. Go sword & board, learn parrying, and for godsake play with a controller. Those are the keys at least for starting out and learning the ropes. And keep in mind the stuff that seems annoying and frustrating at first is what ultimately hooks you when you have a breakthrough, a-ha type moment - there will be many. I completely hated Dark Souls 1 the first hour or two, but then it became pretty much heroin after that.
Demons Souls remake on PS5 also a great experience for someone new to Souls games.
Colonel Sanders
Supreme [H]ardness
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that's how it was for me too, and i see that same basic story from a lot of people... it's all about breaking through that adjustment phase where you have to adapt and adjust, because until then these games just feel like some kind of bizarre self-torture that couldn't possibly be fun for anyone, lol
I probably screwed this all up. meh.
Naw, I'm not getting a controller just for the game. I'm still trying to convince myself to stick with it.
Be nice if there was more access to gear. I've got a brass shield of some sort and a long sword.
There are some dudes at these camps with weird helmets, lances, and big shields that really ruin my day.
Iunno. I'm not convinced yet. I'm just trying to force myself through it it seems.
TwistedMetalGear
2[H]4U
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Should I be using stonesword keys on every blocked path I come across? Are there enough stonesword keys in the game to unlock them all? Or should I be googling what the best places to use them are?
Yes, players who have reached NG+ and explored most of the map have said they had excess (20+) when starting NG+.
(you'll eventually meet lots of vendors who sell them for about 3-5k each)
I'm totally hooked and obsessed with this game.
A few more tips to add to what sanders said.
Day and night do matter to a certain degree. Some bosses and mobs will only spawn at night. Also sneak works better at night. You can actually use a torch to kill mobs and sometimes it is more effective.
This is a personal choice but you can find ways to cheese some tough encounters. That is by using the terrain and enviroment to your advantage, this can lead to bosses getting stuck or not being able to hit you. It's also can apply to tougher regular mobs. Using ranged while you are on a cliff and a mob can't reach you, things like that. People can say it's cheap but when you've died 3 or 4 times and lost all the runes you built up and have to fight through dungeon area again then cheese doesn't feel so bad.
Listen to the stories and npc for quests and directions or instructions. They don't spell things out clearly all the time so you have to pay attention. You can totally miss quests if you don't actually follow what an npc says since there are no map markers or even a log to follow. In that regard sound is important as well, listen for sounds like music howls and other things as you explore. It could lead you to something.
Get used to using the lock on button when exploring. It can help pick out hidden mobs.
Take the time to practice some button combos while your not in an annoying situation.
Explore everwhere you think you can reach you may find something.
A few more tips to add to what sanders said.
Day and night do matter to a certain degree. Some bosses and mobs will only spawn at night. Also sneak works better at night. You can actually use a torch to kill mobs and sometimes it is more effective.
This is a personal choice but you can find ways to cheese some tough encounters. That is by using the terrain and enviroment to your advantage, this can lead to bosses getting stuck or not being able to hit you. It's also can apply to tougher regular mobs. Using ranged while you are on a cliff and a mob can't reach you, things like that. People can say it's cheap but when you've died 3 or 4 times and lost all the runes you built up and have to fight through dungeon area again then cheese doesn't feel so bad.
Listen to the stories and npc for quests and directions or instructions. They don't spell things out clearly all the time so you have to pay attention. You can totally miss quests if you don't actually follow what an npc says since there are no map markers or even a log to follow. In that regard sound is important as well, listen for sounds like music howls and other things as you explore. It could lead you to something.
Get used to using the lock on button when exploring. It can help pick out hidden mobs.
Take the time to practice some button combos while your not in an annoying situation.
Explore everwhere you think you can reach you may find something.
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t1337duder
Gawd
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As someone who's a veteran Souls player (beat all of them), I'm not surprised some players are having a hard time with this game. Even for me it can be an overwhelming experience. I'm on Commander Niall right now, and oh boy. Ended up taking a break and retreading old areas to beat bosses I skipped or paths I've missed. I've leveled a bunch but now I'm running out of ideas. Having my Great Rune situation finally figured out certainly helps a lot, but even that isn't enough to save my ass from getting handed to me.
Porter_
[H]F Junkie
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Whelp I broke one of my mouse thumb buttons playing this game. Had it mapped to dodge, I tried to *no seriously, really dodge* and that was that. Game is just starting to click with me I think. I’m starting to see the redeeming value in it.
Comixbooks
Fully [H]
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I would come back at level 26 or so.
Just do the Southern part of the map until then goto the Swamp and check out that dungeon and Farm.
The telegraphing in this game is fast which basically is the need for a controller.
I won't even play games now on Steam without one or Epic. I'm waiting on Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous to get controller support.
Yea, that's what I've been doing. I think I crossed into a new section of map. There was one of those skeletor giants things after a tunnel.
I can't do controllers. my last controller was on Playstation 1. It doesn't work for me.