Elden Ring (From Software RPG)

[polonyc2]

I just defeated the Fallingstar Beast located at the Sellia Crystal Tunnel (solo, no summons of any kind)...good God that was hard...I beat him with my Level 36 character...I hear that he's more of a high level boss but I knew I could beat him...took me like 3 hours of attempts...once you learn his movesets in theory he shouldn't be this difficult but certain moves require pinpoint timing...if you're a millisecond off he still hits you

he has this one move where he shoots up magic rocks from the ground...he does it 3 consecutive times and on the last one you're supposed to roll or jump out of it...I had the timing down and would clear all 3 most times but every once in awhile the 3rd jump doesn't land and he nails you with this huge AOE damage effect...same thing with another move where he tries to spear you into the wall...he was so frustrating because I knew I could take him out but one small mistake and it's over

I heard they nerfed this boss with patch 1.03...previously he was even tougher with a nearly impossible 2nd stage where he uses even more magic attacks including a Gravity Slam that fills up the entire cave and is pretty much un-blockable...apparently this boss appears later in the game as an 'adult' version and From Software accidentally copied that same boss over to this fight

 

[BassTek]

Polygon doing his best Comixbooks impression.

 

[polonyc2]

what a masterpiece of level design with Stormveil Castle...Miyazaki must have some sort of special powers to consistently deliver these master levels filled with tons of different areas which all end up winding into each other...absolutely brilliant...enemy design is also once again excellent...voice acting as well

I'm really liking the Bloodhound's Fang Greatsword...the Bloodhound's Finesse weapon arts skill is pretty overpowered...can take out mini-bosses in one shot and does heavy damage to main bosses as well...I need to experiment more with various Ashes of War as a lot of them seem really interesting

 

[Domingo]

I just defeated the Fallingstar Beast located at the Sellia Crystal Tunnel (solo, no summons of any kind)...good God that was hard...I beat him with my Level 36 character...I hear that he's more of a high level boss but I knew I could beat him...took me like 3 hours of attempts...once you learn his movesets in theory he shouldn't be this difficult but certain moves require pinpoint timing...if you're a millisecond off he still hits you

he has this one move where he shoots up magic rocks from the ground...he does it 3 consecutive times and on the last one you're supposed to roll or jump out of it...I had the timing down and would clear all 3 most times but every once in awhile the 3rd jump doesn't land and he nails you with this huge AOE damage effect...same thing with another move where he tries to spear you into the wall...he was so frustrating because I knew I could take him out but one small mistake and it's over

I heard they nerfed this boss with patch 1.03...previously he was even tougher with a nearly impossible 2nd stage where he uses even more magic attacks including a Gravity Slam that fills up the entire cave and is pretty much un-blockable...apparently this boss appears later in the game as an 'adult' version and From Software accidentally copied that same boss over to this fight

It's not a spoiler since it isn't plot related, but he shows up several more times. I specifically remember at least 2 more in the overworld, but I think he might show up as a dungeon boss again, too. They might have slightly different names, but it's the same enemy...and he's always tough. The toughest version is oddly an overworld encounter near the entrance to Lyndell Castle and a pair of other previous bosses. It's totally missable and even a little bit hidden. My main memory of him prior to 1.03 was that he was more aggressive in spamming AOE attacks. In my NG+ I don't think I actually died on any versions of him, which is NOT how things went down on my first pass.

 

[TwistedMetalGear]

what a masterpiece of level design with Stormveil Castle

Yeah I spent so many hours in Stormveil alone. The rest of the dungeons aren't quite as intricate, but still good mind you.

 

[polonyc2]

50 hours in and I just defeated Godrick at Stormveil Castle...I explored most of Limgrave, Weeping Penninsula and a little bit of Caelid...I defeated all the bosses I could find in Limgrave but I'm guessing I still missed quite a bit of side quests and even a few optional bosses

I'm guessing I'm barely 20% finished...if that's the case this will be the longest single playthrough of any game I've ever played...I have 1000+ hours in each of the Dark Souls games but that's combined across multiple playthroughs

 

[Domingo]

Stormveil is easily the highlight of the early portions of the game. If you complete that area and all of the area below, you're somewhere between 25-35% done. Some of the later areas are large in terms of geography, but they aren't as dense as the starting areas. There's also a large area that's pretty easy to miss entirely. I think I ended up putting in around 90 hours for my first pass through the game. That's being pretty damn thorough and getting all of the achievements, although I got about 20% of them after beating the final boss.

 

[RJ1892]

I just defeated the Fallingstar Beast located at the Sellia Crystal Tunnel (solo, no summons of any kind)...good God that was hard...I beat him with my Level 36 character...I hear that he's more of a high level boss but I knew I could beat him...took me like 3 hours of attempts...once you learn his movesets in theory he shouldn't be this difficult but certain moves require pinpoint timing...if you're a millisecond off he still hits you

he has this one move where he shoots up magic rocks from the ground...he does it 3 consecutive times and on the last one you're supposed to roll or jump out of it...I had the timing down and would clear all 3 most times but every once in awhile the 3rd jump doesn't land and he nails you with this huge AOE damage effect...same thing with another move where he tries to spear you into the wall...he was so frustrating because I knew I could take him out but one small mistake and it's over

I heard they nerfed this boss with patch 1.03...previously he was even tougher with a nearly impossible 2nd stage where he uses even more magic attacks including a Gravity Slam that fills up the entire cave and is pretty much un-blockable...apparently this boss appears later in the game as an 'adult' version and From Software accidentally copied that same boss over to this fight

Fighting him naked you can avoid all his attacks pretty easy. But yea he still is tanky and it ends up being a long fight.

 

[polonyc2]

Fighting him naked you can avoid all his attacks pretty easy. But yea he still is tanky and it ends up being a long fight.

that's what I usually do with most bosses that are difficult...I prioritize fast rolls...I never wear full armor sets unless it's for a specific enemy where the armor offers up a specific defense (fire, magic, lightning etc)...even with that the Fallingstar Beast was tough as an early level fight

this game is absolutely massive...the map is huge...after defeating Godrick I was exploring Liurnia and that swamp area was so gigantic...to fight the main boss of the area you need to find some key but the game doesn't tell you where it is and I spent hours in the swamps discovering new areas, enemies etc...I'm still lost and have no idea where to go but it's so much fun...fast travel and using the horse are pretty much mandatory...exploring by foot takes forever

there was this 1 enemy in the Liurnia swamp area who was annoying as hell...I don't know its name but it was relentless with his attacks (I attached a screenshot)

 

[Bullitt]

there was this 1 enemy in the Liurnia swamp area who was annoying as hell...I don't know its name but it was relentless with his attacks (I attached a screenshot)

Wraith caller. Man, those were a pain in my run-thru because the density of the squids and those little bastards got in the way. That and I just had a rough time with them.

 

[Bankie]

Wraith caller. Man, those were a pain in my run-thru because the density of the squids and those little bastards got in the way. That and I just had a rough time with them.

The Wraith Callers are those little dudes that ring their bells to summon slow moving magic projectiles. I believe that that's a Revenant and yes they are assholes. Just wait until Haligtree where the entire ground floor is crawling with them.

 

[Bankie]

this game is absolutely massive...the map is huge...after defeating Godrick I was exploring Liurnia and that swamp area was so gigantic...to fight the main boss of the area you need to find some key but the game doesn't tell you where it is and I spent hours in the swamps discovering new areas, enemies etc...I'm still lost and have no idea where to go but it's so much fun...fast travel and using the horse are pretty much mandatory...exploring by foot takes forever

Walk up to the front door of the city and there will be a map to the key on a nearby corpse.

 

[Domingo]

there was this 1 enemy in the Liurnia swamp area who was annoying as hell...I don't know its name but it was relentless with his attacks (I attached a screenshot)

Those guys will continue to be annoying for most of the game. You'll get better at killing them faster, but they're always a pain. Especially in groups and when you aren't prepared for them to show up. If your weapon has a powerful special attack (or if you have a strong spell ready to rock), treat those guys like mini-bosses and go ham.

 

[Bankie]

Those guys will continue to be annoying for most of the game. You'll get better at killing them faster, but they're always a pain. Especially in groups and when you aren't prepared for them to show up. If your weapon has a powerful special attack (or if you have a strong spell ready to rock), treat those guys like mini-bosses and go ham.

I think I died to the one in The Shaded Castle more than I did to any boss. And when I finally dispatched him I don't think he even dropped anything useful.

 

[RJ1892]

there was this 1 enemy in the Liurnia swamp area who was annoying as hell...I don't know its name but it was relentless with his attacks (I attached a screenshot)

I haven't played in a few months, but that enemy is etched into my brain. Literally traumatized by it, gives you no breathing room at all lol.

I'm getting the itch to play again, but trying to hold out til the RayTracing patch or first DLC since I already logged 500+ hours.

 

[polonyc2]

The Wraith Callers are those little dudes that ring their bells to summon slow moving magic projectiles. I believe that that's a Revenant and yes they are assholes. Just wait until Haligtree where the entire ground floor is crawling with them.

he wouldn't let me get a shot in as he has this flurry of attacks which depleted my stamina plus he threw out this huge poison wave...I ended up using this small wall in the Ruins as a barrier and would hit him and move back behind the wall...he would still hit me through the wall but I was able to get some protection from his attacks and finally kill him

 

[Domingo]

Other than the ones at the bottom of the Haligtree, those guys typically come out of the ground near you. Usually at an inopportune time. You can get the jump on them if you're ready for them to show up, though. Jump attack + just keep slashing until either they (or you) die. The good thing is that they don't usually interrupt you - you just end up trading hits. I'd rather trade than get totally snuffed out.

 

[polonyc2]

Other than the ones at the bottom of the Haligtree, those guys typically come out of the ground near you. Usually at an inopportune time. You can get the jump on them if you're ready for them to show up, though. Jump attack + just keep slashing until either they (or you) die. The good thing is that they don't usually interrupt you - you just end up trading hits. I'd rather trade than get totally snuffed out.

there's a bunch of lesser fodder enemies which are no problem to deal with but I'm talking about the bigger version and his attacks always interrupt as he has this 7-8 hit combo along with the poison spit...usually the Bloodhound's Finesse weapon arts skill deals with everything pretty quickly but I couldn't even get it off without him interrupting it...and he teleports around you as well

 

[Domingo]

there's a bunch of lesser fodder enemies which are no problem to deal with but I'm talking about the bigger version and his attacks always interrupt as he has this 7-8 hit combo along with the poison spit...usually the Bloodhound's Finesse weapon arts skill deals with everything pretty quickly but I couldn't even get it off without him interrupting it...and he teleports around you as well

What kind of weapon are you using? I mostly used the Uchigatana (and its default special attack) on my first pass. That was usually enough to kill the early ones quickly enough. The later ones seem to have more HP, though.

 

[polonyc2]

What kind of weapon are you using? I mostly used the Uchigatana (and its default special attack) on my first pass. That was usually enough to kill the early ones quickly enough. The later ones seem to have more HP, though.

Bloodhound's Fang +2...the Uchigatana does swing faster so it's probably a good weapon for this kind of enemy

 

[polonyc2]

for the first 30 hours or so I completely ignored Talisman's as I thought it had to do with Miracles like in the previous Souls games...every time a message would pop up that I found a new Talisman I would just ignore it as I never used Faith/Miracles in the older games...but in Elden Ring Talisman's are a completely different thing and take the place of Rings

I also had no idea about the telescope icons on the map

beating the Abductor Virgin boss was the most satisfying victory for me so far in the game...the first few times they seemed impossible but you just need to exploit their 1 weak point

 

[Domingo]

for the first 30 hours or so I completely ignored Talisman's as I thought it had to do with Miracles like in the previous Souls games...every time a message would pop up that I found a new Talisman I would just ignore it as I never used Faith/Miracles in the older games...but in Elden Ring Talisman's are a completely different thing and take the place of Rings

I also had no idea about the telescope icons on the map

beating the Abductor Virgin boss was the most satisfying victory for me so far in the game...the first few times they seemed impossible but you just need to exploit their 1 weak point

Go figure, that's actually a boss fight I totally bypassed. I had to look up where to even find them. I *hate* those things. Their grab is one of the top 2-3 most damaging attacks in the whole game. Fighting those things when you'd likely first end up there must be awful. When you start to encounter them in the normal game world, I find it's best just to avoid them. I've never had them drop any items and it's not like the runes they give you are worth it either.

 

[polonyc2]

Go figure, that's actually a boss fight I totally bypassed. I had to look up where to even find them. I *hate* those things. Their grab is one of the top 2-3 most damaging attacks in the whole game. Fighting those things when you'd likely first end up there must be awful. When you start to encounter them in the normal game world, I find it's best just to avoid them. I've never had them drop any items and it's not like the runes they give you are worth it either.

that's how I felt in the beginning about their grab move but they telegraph it pretty easily and once you get the timing down they're pretty easy...the key is to wait for the arms to come out, roll into them and score some heavy damage as that is their weak point...in the beginning I could never avoid the grab because I started rolling once the red smoke started coming out but the key is to wait for the arms...they stick their arms out for a second before actually doing the grab move

 

[Comixbooks]

 

[Comixbooks]

Big Crab gets him in toilet paper hideout. I know its a Lobster.

 

[polonyc2]

this game is really overwhelming at times with the amount of content it has...you walk into a new area and it has 5 branching pathways that take you to 5 more massive areas within that original location...such an epic game on every level...Miyazaki's crown jewel...it's pretty much the culmination of everything From Software has done...I've had to resort to looking up some guides to tell me where to go as the map is massive and it's easy to get lost

I've been having some difficulty with some of the optional bosses (I only play solo, no summons or Spirit Ashes ever)- Starscourge Radahn, Godskin Apostle and the Valiant Gargoyles all took me many attempts...

 

[Domingo]

The two gargoyles are a rough fight. They're definitely in my top 5 toughest battles in the game. I think Radahn just falls victim to my style of play or something, because I've found him to be pretty easy. I just rode at him (zig-zagging to avoid arrows) and kept circling and swinging like mad when I got close. He's one of those bosses that struggles to deal with people that keep getting behind him. I think if you try to play him honest and clean it might be tough, but if you just charge and go ham while strafing, he might not even hit you at all.

 

[ghostwich]

this game is really overwhelming at times with the amount of content it has...you walk into a new area and it has 5 branching pathways that take you to 5 more massive areas within that original location...such an epic game on every level...Miyazaki's crown jewel...it's pretty much the culmination of everything From Software has done...I've had to resort to looking up some guides to tell me where to go as the map is massive and it's easy to get lost

I've been having some difficulty with some of the optional bosses (I only play solo, no summons or Spirit Ashes ever)- Starscourge Radahn, Godskin Apostle and the Valiant Gargoyles all took me many attempts...

Just curious, did you summon NPCs like Alexander, Blaidd during Radahn?

 

[Domingo]

Just curious, did you summon NPCs like Alexander, Blaidd during Radahn?

So, I don't actually even know where to summon them in that fight. Was there a sign on the beach I missed or something?

 

[Bullitt]

So, I don't actually even know where to summon them in that fight. Was there a sign on the beach I missed or something?

Yeah, there were several. And you could keep summoning them all battle. I played that fight at patch 1.03 and I breezed through it. I understand that pre-patch 1.03, he was one tough mutha.
I had my "Dinosaur Moment"

 

[Domingo]

Ha! I actually got killed by the meteor move once, too. I've only played that fight a handful of times and that's one of the ways he killed me. One thing I noticed is that you can actually put him on death's door (or maybe even kill him outright?) before he even does it. He lets off the gas when he's about to go to phase 2 and you can hammer him when he does. Never successfully summoned any help in that fight, though. I tried once, but they kept getting wrecked by arrows and creeping along, so I was left to fight him by myself anyway. I don't know if they ever did actually reach him. I didn't have any of the better ashes that early, so I think I was summoning skeletons or something.

 

[polonyc2]

Just curious, did you summon NPCs like Alexander, Blaidd during Radahn?

nope, never summoned any NPC or human players...I think that fight is meant to be played with summons as there were a ton of NPC summons around the arena...but I persevered and beat him solo

 

[Bullitt]

Ha! I actually got killed by the meteor move once, too. I've only played that fight a handful of times and that's one of the ways he killed me.

By "Breezed through it" what I meant to say was that it "only took me 2 tries." I played the game using Fightin Cowboy's walkthrough due to my FOMO and wanting to see everything in the game. I didn't watch any of the boss/mini boss fights, so I always went in blind with those. At the stage of the game with the walkthru, I was probably a tad over-leveled and the combination of playing at patch 1.03, I had an easier experience than my friend who was playing 2 weeks ahead of me.

 

[Domingo]

By "Breezed through it" what I meant to say was that it "only took me 2 tries." I played the game using Fightin Cowboy's walkthrough due to my FOMO and wanting to see everything in the game. I didn't watch any of the boss/mini boss fights, so I always went in blind with those. At the stage of the game with the walkthru, I was probably a tad over-leveled and the combination of playing at patch 1.03, I had an easier experience than my friend who was playing 2 weeks ahead of me.

I think he took me 3 tries on my first go-round (the second of which I got instakilled by the meteor) and I didn't even take a hit on NG+. My general rule for basically any Souls boss is to charge, get behind, swing twice, and see how they react. From there, repeat as appropriate and always remember to roll toward enemies no matter how backwards that feels. It works roughly 75% of the time. In Elden Ring the % might actually be higher than that. I think that might be my one complaint about Elden Ring's battles. I never felt like I needed a complex strategy to fight anything. At least as a melee build, which is what I always play. It nearly always came down to pure execution and simply not getting hit by whatever killed me last time. There might've been something that's escaping me, but I don't remember changing my approach in a significant way very often.

 

[polonyc2]

I notice that the vast majority of Elden Ring's enemies/bosses are weak to bleed...so any weapon with bleed damage is going to be pretty powerful

 

[Domingo]

I notice that the vast majority of Elden Ring's enemies/bosses are weak to bleed...so any weapon with bleed damage is going to be pretty powerful

Yup. I don't think anything is immune to that effect, either. You'll be in the middle of a fight and suddenly one of your hits will take off like 1/3 their health out of the blue. Even enemies made out of stone. The ultimate example of that is the Rivers of Blood. Not only is it a strong katana right out of the box, it has one of the best special attacks in the game (that also causes bleed), too. It's located pretty close to the end of the game, but I think there are semi-glitchy ways to get to that area much earlier in the game.

 

[Absalom]

Yup. I don't think anything is immune to that effect, either. You'll be in the middle of a fight and suddenly one of your hits will take off like 1/3 their health out of the blue. Even enemies made out of stone. The ultimate example of that is the Rivers of Blood. Not only is it a strong katana right out of the box, it has one of the best special attacks in the game (that also causes bleed), too. It's located pretty close to the end of the game, but I think there are semi-glitchy ways to get to that area much earlier in the game.

This is why Elden Ring technically has an easy mode. It's not obvious at first. Instead of burying the option in a submenu, they let you slowly access it (or sustain it) through the various items you acquire throughout the game.

Certain items or game mechanics exist in the game simply to make things easier. It is done on purpose. It's up to the player to decide if they are worth using.

 

[Bullitt]

I notice that the vast majority of Elden Ring's enemies/bosses are weak to bleed...so any weapon with bleed damage is going to be pretty powerful

I took my Quality build throughout the game with a +10 Bloodhound Fang. Some of the boss/miniboss fights wih the mimic were some beatdowns. Those crytsal mobs, were quite resistant (immune?) to bleed, so I had a big oogah-boogah beat-stick for those bastards.

 

[polonyc2]

I took my Quality build throughout the game with a +10 Bloodhound Fang. Some of the boss/miniboss fights wih the mimic were some beatdowns. Those crytsal mobs, were quite resistant (immune?) to bleed, so I had a big oogah-boogah beat-stick for those bastards.

I've been using the Bloodhound's Fang for most of my playthrough (the Bloodhound's Finesse skill/weapon art is pretty overpowered)...the only bad thing about it is that it can't be upgraded with Ashes of War so I can't really experiment with different ones...for my 2nd playthrough I'm going to try different weapons

 

[polonyc2]

according to the Bandai Namco ransomware attack the Elden Ring DLC will be titled Barbarians of the Badlands and is scheduled for Q3 2023...sounds fake to me as that title doesn't sound like a From Software title...also Q3 2023 is really late