Elden Ring: YOU DIED on a horse

If you're using summons, multiples are better against him than mimic. The greatshield soldiers work p well. I think also using a shield just is far more effective, the area of his attacks is unsociable. I think that's why I found him so hard, as I dodge and never block as a style throughout this game, and you can't block most of his attacks.

Haha, autocorrect changed that to "unsociable". His behaviour is anti-social in the extreme! Commander Rude more like.

fuckit im going to go into the shadow keep to meet some unsociable characters.

ok specimen storehouse is amazing.

Commander Dingus

I haven’t seen him yet (I don’t think?) I don’t know what I’m doing any more. There’s too much map below map.

Isn't there a buff that gives you more attack power when a summon dies? So you can summon the skeleton ashes (which can come back to life) and every time they die you get more and more OP?

I'm closing in on Gaius, I've decided that the fight is all about positioning, and I keep singing POSITION (to the tune of 'Tradition') to myself. You need to get on his side no matter what - any other position (front, distant, behind for sure) triggers attacks that I do not want. It's tempting to attack when you dodge and end up behind him, but far better to reposition to his flank.

@ dog latin isn’t there a new talisman that does this?

Oh I beat Gaius last night. He's weak to Holy! I died three times and beat him the fourth time. Greatshield and sacred great mace took him down. I love fighting Tree Sentinels though so it was very up my alley

Wow, I have died a hundred deaths, for anyone who is under the impression that I'm good at this game (I think my scadutree blessing is still relatively low though?). Greatshield does seem like it would work a treat on him, although I tried blocking some attacks with my giant anvil and it seemed very inconsistent (sometimes the angle of his attacks seemed to just ignore the block).

You need to pin him to the wall of the keep also, you can absolutely destroy him as his horse is so thicc and bad at turning in a tight space. Greatshield essentially gives you time to think, maybe should have used shields more throughout, but for Gaius it really helped.

Also more and more I think avoiding use of the lock on function is better, it forces you to move around bosses in a way that suits the boss more than you. We discussed this above and I have never really fully committed to using it and am now sure it's better not to use it. Even really with smaller enemies, better to ween off it.

After a few duff runs at them, I picked off Bayle, Midra and Messmer in a couple hours today— consulting online resources for combat approaches. Killed Bayle with a light rolling anchor wench

It really does help a lot to think of your character as having flexibility between different approaches, pierce for Bayle, blood for Midra, tanky armour for Messmer. What’s next! Idk!

O I did it! I ended up having a soft spot for Gaius in the end and was very happy with the final run.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzTATrKdV1c

Bayle, Midra and Messmer were all like one or two attempts for me, not sure why they were easier. Prob just over-levelled.

Nice video btw, yikes when he walloped you with the charge halfway through. I basically would never win that fight without summons, but you make him look very slow and crap.

Enjoy your scadutree fragments, lol.

Haha I remember my brain momentarily shutting down in that moment, I just...didn't do anything (except facetank the charge). It's not in the video but on other attempts I was able to perfect block the charge using the deflecting tear, and you only lose a little bit of stamina.

My friend said that pre-patch he started much, much closer to you at the beginning of the fight and would charge you point blank.

I tended to wait by the wall as I used the Greatshield Soldiers and they can sort of pin him against it, then you can really go ham on him. I still don't think I'd have managed it without a shield tho. Horrible boss.

Be nice to him, he doesn't have any legs!

for real, really felt for him once I killed him, killed his girlfriend and looted his trousers.

Black iron greaves made for Commander Gaius. A cruel joke, for he could not wear them. Riding atop the boar he called his other half, Gaius was in fact a warrior of albinauric extraction.

iirc I did kind of get him in a corner and it was just me and mimic hitting him with the sunflower, which is serious holy damage. Didn't realise he was weak to that! But in general 100% agree with this:

It really does help a lot to think of your character as having flexibility between different approaches, pierce for Bayle, blood for Midra, tanky armour for Messmer. What’s next! Idk!

Went anti-fire/lightning tank plus pierce on Bayle to finally take him down. Slash/bleed got me Midra in 2 or 3.

Re: lock on, I think it's very situational! Most fights are designed for lock on for both better and worse. You can avoid some attacks that track your more easily, but also can have a harder time seeing their tells and avoiding other moves.

In pvp I rarely lock on though, it's great for keeping multiple opponents in view and staying nimble.

hit commander gaius before either messmer or the scadutree. oddly easy - mainly because maliketh’s black blade special attack absolutely crucifies him, as does maliketh’s black blade spell.

i would absolutely not hit most things if i didn’t lock on. though bosses inc Commander G i don’t.

jori, elder inquisitor was a *dick* an unsociable sort, however.

After switching over to jumpy anchor build, and at Scadu 19 by the end, it wasn’t challenging. I confess I beat final boss first try— there was an “I’m gonna die” combo moment where I was actually saved by a “your message was appraised” prompt. But yeah he died.

I backed up my game just before beating Bayle tho so I reloaded and I’m gonna try the endgame again with a less brain dead minmax situation

ugh i had scadutree down to near zero health on third phase on my second go and and no i’m barely making it into the second. ffs.

now

Ok I found Messmer, getting properly wrecked so far (which is well & good). Got to phase 2 once, the screen filled with snakes, I died, and thought that was a good place to leave it for the evening.

snakes... why did it have to be snakes???

Last night I decided to go back and find all the furnace golems and deal with their fiery asses. I remembered the area at the terminus of the river, where one finds the Electric Perfume, and headed there. But: I clocked the location incorrectly, thinking that it was below the Village Of Flies. I found a new area with dual hippos waiting to be smacked. This map is really quite ingenious.

I have to do Ruah again, as a result of my Time Machine backup. I’m looking forward to it, it’s one of my favourite legacy dungeons. Like, “finally, a legacy dungeon for horses”. Looking forward to the final area, too, the way that it interfaces with a previous area below is breathtaking.

I’m playing dexarc for now, lotta blood, pata and Serpent Bow, attempting bosses again and having a good time.

This DLC is good and I can’t really find any fault with it in its execution, but I also think I’ve had my fill of From’s whole format and I am happy to move on from these games

I don't understand Ruah yet, I accessed it via the teleporter and from the (unexpected!) Shadow Keep connection that brings you out on top, but I haven't explored it yet. Really feel like I haven't scratched the surface of the DLC yet, it feels like there are a million routes I need to go back to.

It is insanely convoluted - i keep remembering forks where i've gone down one route and said to myself 'i'll come back later for the other one' and never do, because the route i took itself went on a fractal multidimensional route of new paths and open spaces. It's... a lot! (too much?)

Yeah, there is specifically one path that seems like “oh I’ll just poke my head in here and see what’s up” and then two hours later you’re in the abyss. A part of me wishes I had the messages turned off, so that I might feel less-assisted in my explorations… but I also realize that I’d more-likely just be missing everything

yeah it's crazy big for sure. also sometimes you are sort of hurrying because of scary/dangerous enemies or swarms or whatever.

“sort of hurrying” = equals spamming gallop like a mf for me.

exactly the same. some areas scare the shit out of me also.

Ok I have phase 1 down, I just need to figure out these goddamn snakes.

This is so sick btw:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDZUMfFkH10

So apparently Ansbach's dialogue changes if you find a bunch of the Miquella crosses, but only BEFORE the Shadow Keep point-of-no-return.

The thing is, some of those crosses are super tucked away, so the chances of finding them before you go galloping up the road check out the big black castle on the very obvious critical path are absolutely nil unless you're super-rigorous about scoping out an entire area before moving on.

I think I'm quite a cautious and careful player, but I only found the Scaduview Cross way up on a plateau to the east of Moorth Ruins last night after a good bit of digging around.

I think I found that one while running away from something. In general I found the crosses are sort of plonked on the more well-trodden paths? There are a few massive entire areas that I'd never have found without reading about them online tho. Just a series of steps I'd never have followed and which I don't think anyone could ever take organically.

yeah the area with the Tree Sentinels and Elden Beast... oh mother!

Xp some of those crosses are insanely well hidden. There's one in Belurat that I only happened to find by random luck. But then I've done this multiple times, it seems. God knows how I managed to get down that hole that leads to Bonny Village. Or happening to leap over the side of a bridge while being chased by a fire knight in Shadow Keep only to land on a long ledge leading to a tiny doorway and a long passage thst eventually opens into a whole new area. It's crazy how convoluted a lot of this is, and yet...

I’m just annoyed that I accidentally ducked into Messmer prematurely and now I’m cut out of hiring Hornsent for the job

Playing rogue-likes my whole life has given me a taste for “resolutely meeting obscure conditions to achieve a difficult goal” but yeah that one was a pain. I blame myself, there was a fog wall, I should’ve seen it and said “I’m gonna google who’s behind it before I enter”

Heh I'm getting close with Messmer (now starting to enjoy the fight, which is a sign of progress), but I was not able to put the pieces together on my 3rd session with him. Hornsent's sign is constantly taunting me in the arena like "are you suuuuure you don't need my help?"

Ok I just looked it up and not summoning will cause his questline to end, but I want to finish this fight solo so we'll just have to part ways. I wonder if it would still work if I summoned him and then sent him home?

(nevermind! someone on reddit says he will still appear later on if you don't summon him. once again thanks to someone on reddit.)

I wish this game had a plot that made any sense

When it gets to Reddit threads and Kotaku articles trying to explain to me that Miquella being kidnapped by Mogh was “all part of a greater plan” on Miquella’a part, I just start to lose all faith in the narrator

The problem with From games is they feel compelled to allow the player to challenge and kill everyone in them. There are never any good guys! Except the turtle pope. As a result they need to build a plot where everyone deserves to die. It’s nuts!

possibly because i’m unbalanced in some way i quite like the relentless “there are almost zero gaps in this universe for selfless good, only more or less deranged characters and different levels of suffering.” good cheer in the face of it all - such as onion knight and alexander - and irritable loss of patience - early castle dude in elden ring (forget his name) are about the best you can expect. they’re all trapped by the fate of a poisoned bloodline. *love it*. even if it is a little claustrophobic.

benign but clearly aging turtle pope aside obv.

I wish this game had a plot that made any sense

When it gets to Reddit threads and Kotaku articles trying to explain to me that Miquella being kidnapped by Mogh was “all part of a greater plan” on Miquella’a part, I just start to lose all faith in the narrator

The problem with From games is they feel compelled to allow the player to challenge and kill everyone in them. There are never any good guys! Except the turtle pope. As a result they need to build a plot where everyone deserves to die. It’s nuts!

― Frank Costanza’s lawyer (flamboyant goon tie included), Wednesday, 24 July 2024 16:22 (forty-two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I dunno, I don't want to be Cap'n Save-A-Miyazaki but part of the whole fun of this series, for me, is the research I've had to do outside the box of the game itself in order to piece-together the plot. I honestly think the convolution is deliberate, and if one just happens to be observant and rigorous enough, the lore is actually out there and does make sense.

But I also think that the developers encourage a healthy amount of discussion among fans, and for people to go out and watch VaatiVidya and Smoughtown YouTubes or follow podcasts, or chat about it on Reddit, read Fextralife etc.

But the good thing is that you don't HAVE to do all that if all you want are hack-n-slash fighting thrills. In that respect, you can play pretty much the whole game and listen to very little dialogue at all.

Compared to God Of War Ragnarok, a game that makes me verge on anger for some reason, it's the total opposite. You don't spend hours menially picking fruit or climbing up a wall while someone endlessly exposits the backstory to you. Likewise, the fights are always fresh and fun and challlenging and the buffs and special moves feel worthwhile, rather than just a bunch of fancy graphics.