Elden Ring: YOU DIED on a horse

ok ok. i’ll do it. thanks fgti

you don't need to kill them, just sneak along the sides away from them or whatever. it's a tiny bit of elden ring as horizon zero dawn, hide in some bushes feeling annoyed you can't just whack the stuffing out of some minor not-even-field boss, but it's about a half-hour then you get to the manse dungeon thing.

No kill them

Totally stuck in Rauh, WTF - amazing and deadly maze. The spread between sites of grace is insane, but you can ride Torrent through huge swaths of it to push forward if you know the way. I feel I've found everything there so far, but clearly not since I'm stuck and feel I'm at a dead end near the Ruins of Rauh West site of grace

Think Carian Retaliation on any medium shield will give you same frames as (more than?) buckler. If you crank focus with armour and talismans you can tank the madness and hits and you’ve got ages to chug potions between attacks - you get 3 or 4 cracks at them before you’re a goner.

xp I agree. They should die, now

Heh I've done almost everything I could think to do in Rauh, but I only just made it to the bit where the map is.

Managed to beat the Scadutree Avatar today. Another dead end boss though... I'm sure the things he drops come in handy later

Ahhhh so. Apparently if you kill a potsmoker but then die before collecting the fragment, it’s GONE. Those bloodfiends (by the one in Moorth, in particular) have smoked me a few times and I think this is likely the reality I’m facing

really? i killed the pothead in the moorth ruins and got done by the bloodfiend (is it a bloodfiend? twirly dual wielding hairy dude anyway) before i could pick up the fragment but went back and did it again and it was ok.

Heh I've done almost everything I could think to do in Rauh, but I only just made it to the bit where the map is.

― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Tuesday, August 6, 2024 11:53 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

I was still not looking things up when I got to Rauh and trying to get to that map fragment was infuriating. Another 'f you Miyazaki' when I found out about lower Rauh

No kill them

If we don't learn to coexist with wildlife native to the local ecosystem, then we will lose beloved nature sites like the Abyssal Woods.

xp hah, i found the map fragment quite early by accident (can't remember the route now). i remember my friend saying "how did you manage to get all the way up there? I've been looking for ages!" - mind you, it took me ages to find the lower east fragment - I was searching all round Bayle country for it, not yet having foudn the Cerulean Coast.

I only just discovered Charros' Hidden Grave yesterday

xp
soon the only giant frenzy rats will be in zoos

Think Carian Retaliation on any medium shield will give you same frames as (more than?) buckler. If you crank focus with armour and talismans you can tank the madness and hits and you’ve got ages to chug potions between attacks - you get 3 or 4 cracks at them before you’re a goner.

― woof, Tuesday, August 6, 2024 11:28 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Further tips for killing them:

* I had to eat the first teleport knockdown every time
* don't accidentally stumble into some rats while you're killing them
* or accidentally take on 2 at once
* dried livers are handy (& in theory clarifying boluses too but am I fuck switching away from my potion when incompetently trying to parry those things)
* not a parry expert but timing seemed a little weird… earlier than you'd think compared to normal weapon wielding mobs? Maybe there just isn't a backswing->swing moment with them. I'd defer to fgti on that

I went through the list of DLC incants and sorceries to see if I was missing any, hoping that "some new area" might reveal itself. I was missing Knight's Lightning! But otherwise nothing serious. I really have no idea where this missing fragment could be.

As for parrying Old Yeller, idk, I didn't have much trouble with it? I think I just used a Golden Parry or whatever. You have to parry a little later than you'd anticipate, it needs to correspond with their swing so it's a beat after the wind-up. One note: I did parry, then miss the critical, but once parried they remain vulnerable to basic physical attacks, you don't need to crit them to kill them, if you miss the crit you can just start swinging and they'll go down

I went down the list of DLC incants and sorceries to see what I was missing. Got 'em all! except Knight's Lightning, I'd missed that one. Doesn't seem like I've missed any significant areas or anything.

Re: parrying Old Yeller, idk, I didn't have too much trouble. I died about ten times in killing the six (or seven?) of them. I think I was just using Golden Parry on them. I did find that you have to smash a little later than you'd think, ensure the parry meets their swing. One thing I did note: once parried, they're permanently vulnerable. You don't have to kill them with a crit. So, if you get the parry, but miss the crit, you can just start swinging and they'll go down.

xp
soon the only giant frenzy rats will be in zoos

lol

The Abyssal Woods used to be a place for families, picnics, hikers. Then everything changed...

The Atavist, 6,500 words.

As beautiful-but-incredibly-scary environments go, the Abyssal Woods is really top drawer

it is so bleak, i honestly couldn't spend much time there. first time i abandoned it on first encounter with those things, second time sneaked around, finished what was there and decided to never go back.

yup and especially loved getting the map fragment for AW and it just telling me 'yeah it's a big horrible area with nothing in it. go f yourself. Find your own way to this manse you've heard about'

I've only poked my head into the Abyssal Woods. I couldn't work out what was supposed to be so scary about them (compared to other parts of the game) that Torrent wouldn't come out to play. In fact they seemed kind of pretty. Then I got chased by one of those eye-head guys and died.

Maybe I'm over leveled now as I managed to beat both Bayle and Gaius in one sitting without too much trouble on each one. Looks like I'm getting to the end game now

Thanks for the tip on parrying those beholder head guys, it was a pleasure to scoff at all the messages telling me to hide in the bushes.

Midra's Manse was a fun little jaunt, I didn't expect to get one more castle for the road. I went through it with the Taunter's Tongue on, because it seemed like a pretty chill dungeon and I don't have many areas left where I can still be invaded (I think I might have missed a gaol or two though). It was a fun game to try and quickly clear out a room before an invader arrived.

Maybe I'm over leveled now as I managed to beat both Bayle and Gaius in one sitting without too much trouble on each one. Looks like I'm getting to the end game now

I turned to Fextrasuggestion for those guys, and it helped a lot. Bayle is charmingly much-easier when you are light-rolling!

The weird ish for me was that I turned back to my old-faithful Strong Anchor Jumper Lady build for Enir-Elim. The grand melee took me a few tries, but the Consort? one try. I buffed, I brought Ansbach with me, a Mimic Tear, and I killed him first try. Weird, but running Double Anchor + heavy armour and buffs is kind of unstoppable, I guess.

After reverting to a backup (just before Bayle), and coming back to Consort with my Dexitydex build, man, what a headache. It took me all evening to even make it to his second stage.

I beat Bayle first go, no real problem. Gaius maybe the hardest boss in all of Elden Ring for me, but the first time I used a shield, which was the first time I've used a shield in the entire game, I beat him.

All that said still haven't bothered doing the final Radahn fight. No real motivation now, the game is over whether I do it or not. I remember a friend saying this about the main game but I was very determined to beat the Elden beast, yet don't care now for the DLC.

Loved this silly guy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vD9B8MY6jQ

And here was probably the most fun pvp fight I had found through the Manse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2YFQGlFF-w

I gotta say, I don't think I can be bothered with these furnace golems, they're both hard and boring to fight.

I finally killed my first the other night. I needed to summon a spirit ash and spammed a dragon lightning incant on it while repeatedly stabbing its feet after critical hits. They seem to give you unique crystal tears.

I am pissed I missed the route to the cerulean coast. I walked right by it early in the game. There I think I found the lowest point in the shadow realm. Was a bit over leveled for it.

I also missed the hidden door to find the route to the last map fragment. Needed online help for that. Alas.

At least I got through Rauh eventually and found that map fragment too finally. It’s crazy how vast this world is. I go back to the main game and it feels like ages ago and almost like a prequel

i killed one. but have never killed one with the hefty firepot method, which i assume is easier?

mainly cbf’d tho.

I tried, but I missed too many times and ran out of fire pots, then gave up.

(and I don't think I really need any of the tears for my build, besides the deflecting hardtear from the very first golem)

yeah i killed one but agree i can't really be bothered with the rest.

Furnace Golems suck, but not too difficult to clear once you get the rhythm down. Fights are still long and annoying though, lot of bouncing around on Torrent, only did it for completionist’s sake. Fire pot method only really viable on the ones with armored legs iirc.

tell you what i’m behind all of you but methyr mother of fingers is a fucker. i’ve had her down to a fraction of a centimetre health a couple of times but her slam and sideways finger attacks are rly irritating.

Midra down (easy)
Bayle the Dread Bayle the *Dead* more like, mainly difficulty was that for several of the fights Igon and my Mimic decided to go to some secluded part of the arena and play hopscotch and patty-cake or something so that Bayle could focus its attentions exclusively on me.
Methyr also down.

Now finally in Enir-Ilim.

also did end up partying the fuck out of the lanterns. result: no more lanterns.

also parrying.

ain’t no party like an abyssal woods winter lantern party.

:/ :/ :/

Was trying and trying and trying to beat the Consort with any kind of build aside from my favourite bonk bonk but it just wasn't happening. It no longer felt like Elden Ring, it felt like Lemmings. I gave up. Respec'd to strength, and again, beat him first try. Entered into NG+.

NG+ is a breeze so far, I'm like "oh I remember this NPC, that NPC." I think I'd forgotten that Fia even existed. She tried to hug me and I said no, not falling for that again. Busted up Margit and Godrick and Renalla and the Crucible/Misbegotten without even thinking about it. Switched back to classic 2x Bloody Bandit and it's been as smooth and fast as a bullet train. Gonna try Radahn-with-no-summons later tonight just to see how bad/good I actually am.

I kinda want to plunge right back into the DLC so I can complete quest lines more accurately and get the things I'm missing. I'm reading that as the +'s pile up, and you approach NG+7, that it's INT/FTH or nothing, you basically can't melee any more, unless you're prepared to have no-hit fights. I wonder if/when I should respec to that.

I will just say that it the think about "bleed" and "burst damage" builds is that they typically require two weapons (powerstanced) and are optimised by three talismans (Blood Exult, Hand, Rotten Winged). But what's the point when you're fighting enemies with exceptionally brief vulnerability windows? Isn't it better to just get a good jumping L1, or an R2, or a quick-fix ash of war? rather than attempting to land a series of hits? This is why I like bonk. Evade evade evade and BONK. No burst damage, no worrying about resistances/immunities. Just methodical and profitable violence.

Just needs to be a really big BONK

I agree with that fgti, that's why I've been enjoying my bonk build in the dlc and I never used one in the base game. Something quick like the backhand blades are great against the humanoid opponents in the masoleums, but less so against the main bosses. You might be able to sneak in an extra attack during their combos and the fast recovery time does give you more room for error, but it's a lot harder to stack that damage up.

That said I'm still looking forward to my 'hard mode' dex playthrough next. Still haven't tried the Consort though, I'm cleaning up loose ends...Lamenter's Gaol was cool, there are some caves and masoleums that I missed, and I'm only at scadu level 17 so I've obviously missed a lot of fragments, lol. That's fine though, I don't feel the need to go scavenge them all.

NG+:

Grabbed the Dectus
Hit Altus
Killed Radahn (solo no summons!)
I invaded three times (with three victories, this is new for me, historically I've been great at co-op and dung at invading)
Went to Mohg and it took a few times to kill him, he really gets more robust after his nihil nihil nihil moment
Scrammed back into DLC
Finally got 25/25, 10/10
Immediately I was finding everything significantly more challenging than before, I cannot imagine a world where I'll be able to take on those late-game DLC bosses with this ramped-up difficulty
Balefully looking at my PS5 like "there's a reason why I told myself 'no more Elden Ring' a couple years ago"
Tonight the PS5 stays switched off and I'm gonna read "The Cheese And The Worms" instead

I've never really used a big bonk weapon, always two blood weapons in power stance. I find with a lot of bosses getting in close and being very aggressive is enough to kill them without any real hassle. But I do wonder with a couple like Radahn or Gaius if maybe it just completely doesn't work.

I mostly moved away from from dual wield in the DLC - dual katanas used to be my comfort weapons, but they did not feel right on this run. Spent a lot of time with bonk and with poke.