Elden Ring: YOU DIED on a horse

I totally walked past Stormveil and thought I was meant to keep going through Lake Liurnia to get there. Belatedly went back to say hello to Margit and was horrifically over leveled, poor guy

All doing his little speeches as his health bar drains two inches at a time

i have acquired a big sword. everything is going to be fine.

Haha, welcome Trayce.

I've been back to Stormveil TWICE since clearing the boss because I've seen or heard about things I didn't find, and while I've found a lot more, there are still paths I'm missing.

Omg apparently there's a whole second boss (aside from Godrick) in Stormveil! This game.

waht, where is???

"hidden crypt section" :(

https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Lesser+Ulcerated+Tree+Spirit

I killed my first giant today (the one hanging out by the Third Church of Marika). I felt so good about this, I immediately went back to the grace site in the church, respawned him, and killed him again.

Also if Capcom ever makes a Dragon's Dogma 2, they're *really* gonna have to come up with something interesting to compete with this.

I finally enjoyed to play this for three hours last night! So far this game reminds me far more of Skyrim than anything else, the new summoning mechanic gives me flashbacks to atronachs

I am playing as a wretch as promised, have levelled up vigor and strength each five times, found a cool longsword that I'm just strong enough to use two-handed

Have fought and killed a couple of dungeon bosses, was rudely teleported to someplace scary but made it back.

I have beat a few giants even in these first few hours but it's been cheesy and there was a horse involved

How do y'all dismount usually? I always use L3 crouch (sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintentionally), but maybe there's a better way. Especially for those dragon-type bosses where you want to ride out, and then come in and use an ash of war attack or something.

i think this is L3 crouch tbh. v good for doing flying attacks at enemies.

also v good for triggering “dismounts” during really tense moments where you’re desperately trying ride in circles to get in an attack or escape on your all-too spectral steed and you’re holding your controller like it’s a fuckin safety bar on a rollercoaster, popping that L3 for fun.

you know that tiny little head that says "Hi?" when you use it? i keep that in my pouch.

;_;

HULLLLOOOO

Mimic's Veil is def going in the pouch.

i LOVE how arrows stick in you and enemies in this game :)

I haven’t played this because my pc sucks but please tell me they still have the “VERY GOOD” voice item thing

Ah looks like not, but this one might be just as fun: https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Prattling+Pate+You're+Beautiful

Can't wait until I find the "APOLOGIES" one

found the "thank you" one, died shortly afterward to four skeletons who woke up immediately afterward in the same room (i suck), then returned to the same room, killed them all, and said "thank you"

*csi: miami sunglasses*

the singing bird by the minor erdtree in limgrave!! amazing moment

Took a break and elected to investigate the Bridge Of Sacrifice which seemed to lead to the end of the world map. Nope! There’s a whole other area south of here

Elden Ring rule #1: there's always another area.

the singing bird by the minor erdtree in limgrave!! amazing moment

― the world's undisputed #1 fan of 'Spud Infinity' (Karl Malone), Friday, March 4, 2022 12:39 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

no matter how bright it can get, nothing ever really lets up in this game

I thought those minor erdtrees would provide some peaceful solace but nope, they're all guarded by those dumb giant tree avatars.

So I'm not sure what Ive managed to do here. I got to that Stormhill gate, a huge boss thing fell down from above and I realised I couldnt fight him.

Then I came back on my horse and just... powergalloped through all the gates/fences and out the other side, and ended up at a collapsed bridge. I figured I could walk down the side of it and went round what felt like an alt/secret route? And ended up at Liunria of the Lake and met someone who transported me to the Roundtable place.

But I didnt defeat the Stormveil boss

Have I somehow skipped something? The guides say I cant skip thisMagrit boss but I never saw this place?

Ohhh wait I see what I did - I'm on the cliffs ABOVE the lake, I skipped the castle by going round it, ha no wonder I cant get down to the road.

I did pretty much the same thing trayce! I panicked and sped through the gate, then went around the castle and a crazy journey beyond that. Still haven’t taken on stormveil at level 36!

Hehe we all ended up at the same spot apparently. I can’t quit this game! I had a dream about it!

I'm at a very early point where I realise I need to do some grinding - I was so focussed on just working out how to use all the gear/weapons/my staff that I forgot to even bother with any levelling up. I've lost more runes than Ive earned.

I beat Margit. They buffed up the boss strength when you summon NPC help! I summoned Sorcerer guy a few times but found it easier on my own

I liked the Godrick fight and the darkly comic scene that ensues afterwards

Kept on getting close and then running out of healing while trying to be cagey at the end of his second phase, then just got him in a very short fight by being as aggressive as possible

The cutscene in the middle where he just starts going "AAAAAAAGH" in the most insane voice possible was perfect "ah, fuck, what now" Souls foreboding

moving v slowly thru this but it’s extremely amenable to that.

had a fairly easy win over the ghostly Mariner, realised i was hopelessly underpowered for the mobs in Siofra, reached the Roundtable, got hammered by the giant bear, *again*, (indiscipline really, feels fairly standard rolling should make this easy enough), i’m due another go at Margit next time i sit down.

think i’m going to level up stats for some ranged magic/incantations - having options for the bosses seems sensible.

this was mildly interesting:

Video game soundtrack composer Christa Lee made a really interesting point on Twitter: she said the fights actually work more like turn-based battles from classic Japanese RPGs. You make your attack move, then you need to wait to see how the enemy responds, counter that with a parry or a dodge, then take your turn to strike again. It’s all about reading attack patterns, working out the best distance at which to engage the enemy, and ensuring you have the correct weapons and knowledge for the job.

it feels truer in ER than DS even - the bosses are going to exploit the range of tactics available to you and given the range of attacking options is wider than before, so is the requirement for tactical flexibility.

Yes! I've been saying for years that the secret precursor to this series is Vagrant Story

After a week off, I got back on last night and explored the first-ish areas about to my heart’s extent. Put me around level 26. Decided to suck it up and start clearing bosses. Surprised myself by spanking Magrit then Godrick and his level in only a few tries. Went back to clean up every mini boss in the land above, below, and over after ‘Rick. Maybe like eight or so guys? I was on a warpath. Leaned on my spirit ashes, NPC summons, and horse in some variation for all of them.

Feeling cocky, I decided to try a stone sword key level and got absolutely smushed by what was waiting for me at the end. Plenty of struggle ahead!

People are gonna have some wildly different experiences with this thing.

But yeah, so far all time great game, I love it to death.

some seriously irritating souls loss up at Caelid ffs.

I gotta say, npc quest lines are as inscrutable as always. In a world this big, it's even harder to randomly stumble upon their next location. I looked up the one to get the reusable invasion item because I didn't want to mess it up, and I don't know if I ever would have gotten there on my own.

On another note, I won my first invasions in the Academy. :)

Elder Horse

Went over to Morne Castle, murdered a Leonine something. Finally got my strength level up to 30 so I switched over the two-handing the Golden Halberd. I'm feeling like the guard riposte mechanic is so overpowered in this game, like you can pull off Bloodbornes "parry" mechanic but you only have to hold the block button and wait til the right moment. I dunno if this means that I should be looking toward a one-handed-with-shield eventuality. Two-handing is how I enjoy melee in this series in general though so idk!

Also ventured into a sending gate, met a hungry-for-death beast, elected to sneak past a hilarious dragon giant thing, killed a few deadly-but-wimpy smallmen in the tallgreygrass and was collecting 1000 runes apiece (insanity!), levelled up some more and idk what to do now! Greyveil or what's it called I guess?

There is little-to-no armor in this game and I've found next-to-no spells and zero bows. (Wasn't planning on using spells or bows anyhow). I think I've kinda naturally settled into a strength build with a faith-y aspect to it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dnaii1piTrM

out on the weeping peninsula. just generally rocking around. need to find the three wise beasts. hope one of them wasn’t that spectral turtle i slaughtered.

will do margit tomorrow.

I have found a ton of spells I won't be using, but no armor worth switching to. I've been two-handing as well mostly, with a buckler for parries.

Just beat the second story boss in Liurnia! Fun fight, not too difficult. Not sure where to go from here so I guess it's wander time.

I bought the classic Knight armour from the creepy maiden husks. Using mace+5, golden halberd+2 and crepus crossbow+2; the sombre stones are a bit hard to come by but I assume pushing on from Limgrave will turn some up. Haven't put enough points into faith to get any big time miracles yet

Might have a go on the grafted greatsword when I get my strength up but I've got to kill a few big bosses to pay for my levels at this stage

This game is amazing, I wasn't sure I liked the directionless freedom on my first couple of sessions but realising you can go in basically any direction and get a unique souls-quality experience really hits you after a while

My only complaint is that YOU DIED takes too long to appear and you lose some time to aimless enemy slashing at thin air while your corpse decides when to disintegrate

My only complaint is that YOU DIED takes too long to appear and you lose some time to aimless enemy slashing at thin air while your corpse decides when to disintegrate

HOw are you guys levelling up so fast? Compared to Skyrim I am finding levelling extremely tedious in this game. Nothing levels you just by doing day to day spellcasting or skills, you simply have to kill heaps of things and then still find a grace spot to sit and spend the runes at. It just feels really cumbersome to me, it breaks up my flow of play cos I am forever getting a good swarm down then running back to a grace point just to level up so I dont lose all the runes dying. I started a new Prisoner class guy (his staff spell is wicked good but a little slow), and I'm still only on like level 14. Are you lot just playing for hours and hours? Ive been at it since 8 this morning, its 3PM now and I feel like I'm getting nooooowherrrre.

Being able to level at rest points and fast travel to them is more convenient than some of the games, ha. But levels aren't everything, and runes come and go.

Imo the most important thing you can level early on in this game is vigor. Aside from basic stat requirements for weapons/spells, that gets you a lot of hp for your buck, and upgrading weapons seems to have way more impact then scaling?

Yes a few things Ive read have said that too, though I guess it depends on both yr playstyle and yr chosen class. This prisoner dude I now have had a much better starting staff spell, and with it, I can pick off a lot of dudes from a safe distance without getting a scratch on me. I was also lucky very early on to get a weapon drop and some armour. I think I just need to break the long-held Elder Scrolls habit/playstyle Ive always had (slow exploration/lots of crafting/very little close up melee) bcs that playstyle doesnt work well in this game. No cheat-grinding by making dozens of potions, lol.

Idk, you could probably make a magic + archery character that does just that!

True! The guys I have is good hands off combat too, but I guess I dont like that all the other stuff - crafting, talking to NPCs, learning spells etc - gpes toward XP/levelling!

All that said I'm really enjoying this, what a time sink. I'm grimly determined to git gud.

I dont like that all those things DONT go towards levelling that should say obv. Yay run on sentences.

Speaking of crafting, is anyone finding much use for it? Maybe Idont have enough recipes yet but none of them seem terribly useful, aside maybe from that soft landing/silence one and the firepots.