Elden Ring: YOU DIED on a horse

I can’t tell. Kalimeet was the hardest boss I’ve ever fought. Until I got to Laurence/Maria. Then Friede/Midir were the hardest. Then Malenia/Elden Beast.

I replayed DS1 and DS3 and BB after Elden Ring and the bosses seemed simple, quaint. Weird to think I could now handily do a no-hit on Kalimeet just by glowing up in the later games

oh Kalimeet is impossible. I gave up

He’s actually pretty easy if you’re not hyperfocused on getting tail hits in on him

Oh that makes sense DL, almost forgot about Liurnia being magic-land (can't speak to faith vs int in the late game though).

that's some good playing, Jordan. What weapon are you using there?

Thanks! It's the dragon halberd, which has a pretty vicious true combo in pvp. The weapon art gives it lightning & frost temporarily. And I've been liking the double halberd build mostly for the running L1, which hits twice in succession (great for roll catches) and the more powerful jump attack.

Kalameet and especially Manus seemed soooo hard on my first Dark Souls playthrough. But after fighting Midir in DS3, I couldn't believe how easy Kalameet felt when I played DS remastered. :)

I do like that Elden Beast seems designed to not go down too quickly, even for people using multiple summons and crazy spells. Honestly Radagon seems built for parties of three as well - I tried to help some people beat him, and all of a sudden his phase 2 teleports made sense and looked super cinematic. He's blinking around and changing targets, so you can never be too confident that his attention is elsewhere while you're hitting him in the back. In single player mode, it feels a little much when he's blinking out and reappearing in the same spot with a new attack, it makes the timing almost impossible to anticipate.

Bloodborne = there's also a two part boss fight (humanoid + giant beast), but it's much easier. The second part isn't bad, and if you die I don't think you have to do the first part over again?

Sekiro = also similar to ER, in that the final fight is two bosses that you have to beat every time. But the first boss is much easier than Radagon, imo.

DS3 = just one boss that incorporates the moves of most bosses in DS3 and some of DS1, not too hard as these things go.

More than the other games, Elden Ring’s auxiliary challenges were far, far harder, ime. Crucible Knights? Deathbirds? Runebears? Albinauric archers? Terrifying!

I enjoyed fighting the bog-standard “knights” (from Stormveil all the way to Haligtree) so much that even after close to 1000 hours I still enjoyed poking at them with some new combination of weapons

So true, I noped out on the archers riding wolves in the snowfield, the crucible knight in Faram Azula, and a bunch of dragons.

Btw, there is indeed going to be a brand new system so that people who are obscenely overlevelled can opt to keep the dlc difficult: https://www.reddit.com/r/fromsoftware/comments/1awokya/about_elden_ring_dlc_difficulty/

Is there any reason to get this DLC if you are a beginner? My impression is that Fromsoft DLCs are mostly for advanced players.

You would want to play the main game till the end at least once I can imagine - if only to get the most out of the story and context if that appeals to you (and why not?)

You will need to at least have got as far as bearing Radahn and Mohg to access the DLC anyway. You can technically speed run your way to those, but you'd be missing out on a lot

Ummm, did you finish the main game? If not, I would try and do that first...if you can get through most of the late game using whatever methods work (summons, spirits, magic) and have fun, and you want more Elden Ring, then go for it. If you're not enjoying it or it doesn't seem like your type of game, then the dlc probably won't change your mind. They're usually as hard or harder than the late game, but Elden Ring also accommodates so many different approaches and it doesn't seem like that will change in the dlc.

xp

I hit a skill wall way before that unfortunately. I'll try to pick it up again sometime when I have more free time.

Man... even two or whatever years after this game was released I can't get over what an amazing piece of work it is. It's literally my favourite thing thst isn't a living thing

Yup - still lounging through NG+2 and the game is practically a meditative and psychically restorative experience now.

More than the other games, Elden Ring’s auxiliary challenges were far, far harder, ime. Crucible Knights? Deathbirds? Runebears? Albinauric archers? Terrifying!

Also feeling this - my biggest challenge in NG+2 so far was killing that damn death bird in Caelid to get Death's Poker.

Despite covering a ton of ground in my first two playthroughs there's a bunch of stuff I missed still, either by accident or it being too challenging. I missed an entire town and NPC questline (Jarburg and Jar Bairn), multiple caves, a merchant, and an entire mini dungeon and boss (Twin Abductor Virgins after getting warped to Volcano Manor from the Abductor Virgin at the bottom of Raya Lucaria). I'm sure there's probably some more shit I'm missing too. Insanity!

I mean - I've yet to kill a single Bell Bearing Hunter too.

I really meant to do Jarburg this time, but failed again. :( I'm awful about going back and doing NPC quests. Also don't think I did any Bell Bearing Hunters. Imagine being the type of player that From seems to imagine, who goes back through the entire world every so often, at nighttime no less!

Yes! The Bell Bearing Hunters. The first one I encountered murdered me a hundred times before I gave up

Btw are y'all craftin'? I didn't craft a single thing on this playthrough.

I did not, ever, in my main play through, except to make some sleepy things to cheese a tricky Runebear. When I started duelling tho, I got kitted out with lots of everything; you don't need to, but it's nice to have the same buffing options as your opponent

I mostly craft arrows, golden pickled fowl feet, bewitching branches, sleep pots and other odds and ends. The bewitching branches and sleep pots are really handy for certain enemies and bosses.

Pro tip for rune farming, use the golden scarab talisman (you can get it in a cave in Caelid) and eat a golden pickled fowl foot before waylaying into the albinaurics near the Moghwyn Palace. They stack and bump the runes you get by at least 50% and the status effect of the foot won't clear if you sit at a site of grace, so it then becomes a race to see how many you can kill in 2 minutes (Sacred Relic Sword helps a lot here).

NG+ and above it's easily 100,000 runes each cycle, and you can probably sneak in 4-5 rounds if you're fast enough before the foot's effects end, so like almost a half million runes in a matter of minutes.

I'm really really trying not to farm on this run. I wonder how long until I cave.

So what's the consensus on what to do when you arrive on Altus? Head to Magma Mansion or go to Leyndell? I know there are a fair few tree seeds in Leyndell that might help me

I think if I wasn't in a rush I might take a turn through shaded castle first. Annoying in a couple of ways (poison, at least one long stretch between graces), but feels neat and self-contained.

Then I think I'd check where where I was skill/stats-wise by trying to get in to Leyndell - how much trouble is that tree sentinel going to give me?

Even if I can get past I might touch grace and then look at Mt. Gelmir/the manor.

I wish I were playing Elden Ring rn.

Runes come and runes go, there are always runes in the banana stand. I've only ever farmed if I'm trying to get a new set of weapons upgraded (and even then it's more fun to set a little challenge and do it with coop, bosses, or invasions).

Even if I can get past I might touch grace and then look at Mt. Gelmir/the manor.

by running past that f'ing fallingstar beast in the crater. i had to be so late game OP before i could beat that, it was embarrassing.

“Touch grace” I love that

The opposite of touching grass. “Gotta go inside and touch grace for a while”

I'm really really trying not to farm on this run. I wonder how long until I cave.

So what's the consensus on what to do when you arrive on Altus? Head to Magma Mansion or go to Leyndell? I know there are a fair few tree seeds in Leyndell that might help me

Yeah - I only farm now when I die with a lot of runes. It helps with the cope.

I think Leyndell unlocks more stuff, beating Morgott opens up the Mountaintops/Snowfield/Haligtree/Sewer areas and pushes forward some quest lines like Sellen's. Volcano manor doesn't offer a lot in NG+ and beyond if you haven't already acquired it, but for a new game it's probably the place to go first since the enemies aren't as hard and some of the weapons, like Blasphemous Blade are super helpful for Faith/Strength builds. And there's nice armor/drip to be had too

I just went and collected nearly all of the cookbooks. Was astounding how many I missed even after 2 play throughs. Now I can craft all the boluses! Yay!

And soap too! Actually quite a useful item. How many of you have actually used soap in the game?

@ octobeard yes! I think I played through the entire game twice before I realized that I was missing two (2) cookbooks. One of them was in an area I didn't even realise existed? (South of where you first meet Edgar, the cemetery on the hill, see also that interesting shaded lagoon where a giant and some wolves are fighting each other. Totally missed that area the first time. And second time.)

And soap too! Actually quite a useful item. How many of you have actually used soap in the game?

xp - yeah that cookbook is key, it houses the sleep pot recipe. That was the cookbook that started this journey, I realized I played through twice without any sleep pots, and perhaps I should try and use them this go round since I'm trying not to summon any spirit ashes this run and the godskins still exist

Been revisiting Mount Gelmir and I'm perplexed by its geography. Am I right in thinking there are at least three or four ways to get to Volcano Manor? And some of them are a lot less longwinded than others?

I'm trying to find that one sorcerer that taught Sellen and I can't find the path at all. This part of the game has always confused me

Like, I fought my way all the way to the Fallingstar Beast, beat a wormface and an ulcerated tree spirit, only to realise I've circled round back on myself to be dumped at an earlier point

Decided to respec to a build that uses the Sword Of Night And Flame in one hand, and the Prince of Death's staff in the other.
The build is predicated on using the twin battle arts from the sword, but it's a bit fiddly as you can't use this when you're on horseback

I'm trying to find that one sorcerer that taught Sellen and I can't find the path at all. This part of the game has always confused me

Yes.

There are two spurs that feel the same but are completely different. One is the descent after Fallingstar Beast (to the right of the Manor, where the map fragment is).

The other is to the left of that complicated hard-castle with the lethal perfumers and the Briar Knight fight at the end. (Shaded Castle? Or some other name? God I can’t remember).

But I remember getting to the end of one spur and thinking “where the fuck am I this is not what I wanted”

Apparently there's a chance to meet (and get tricked by) Patches if you ride up to Volcano Manor the long way before meeting him at the Manor itself, but I've never managed to do this

I have to say, there are parts in this.playthrough I'm avoiding unless I absolutely have to. Most notably catacombs. I'm sticking a skull on them on the map to remind me to come back to them if I absolutely must

I had to come back to Volcano Manor multiple times to find that path around it with the tree spirit. Also on my recent playthrough I never found the path that opens the door back to the entrance hall in the manor (but I was ignoring basically all quests). Also accidentally killed Patches because by the time I went back to they first cave, I was too powerful and basically smote him in a couple hits.

I've vowed to be more observant in the DLC and try to do everything properly, maybe even backtrack, but I always say that and always miss a bunch.

I had thought I'd "100%'d" the game with every object imaginable acquired, and then realised I'd missed an entire area and boss (the kidnapping way into Volcano Manor)

i guess it's pretty smart that there are so many routes to VM, including being able to warp there in two different ways, because otherwise it would be a little confusing as to why you'd even go there in the first place

yeah it’s an oddly important locus. i like that! the way different plot lines can get to it, in the way that, say, the original dark souls did with its geography, ER does with its storylines. it really is a marvellous game.

I only found Jarburg after playing the game 200 hours. My last playthrough I accidentally killed one, which locks up Jar Bairn's side quest (and can't be fixed at the Church of Vows iirc), so I just massacred the lot. On NG+3 now and I'm actually doing it, haven't killed a jar there yet

I've been going back to Elden Ring recently, currently trying to get my head around Mt Gelmir and all its strange interlocking paths.

Coming back after having gone and played the other Souls games, I can kiiiind of see why there are some who criticise it.

Obvs the scope of the game the size, the lore, the amount of weapons and spells and items and the fact you can jump and use torrent are all massively big factors buuuut....

There's something about it that's missing from it that makes me pine for DS2

I think it's to do with how in DS2 especially, you're compelled to work super consistently and methodically through an area. You have to move like stealthy molasses or you die, and often you have to learn to do everything the "right" way before you can move on. There's no choice, no getting around it.

You become a master of each area, so to speak

You can try running through an area but chances are it will go badly for you. Before you know it, you'll've kited a group of enemies into a corner and you can't get out

In ER very few enemies are actually mandatory. The only real reason to clear out an area is to collect runes so you can level up. Much of the time, even in catacombs and dungeons you can just run past them and they'll de-aggro. Field bosses are a bit like that too

It's not that it's necessarily easier, because it's not easy at all, and a lot of the bosses and levels are nails. Often there are a lot more enemies around the place to compensate.

But its a different playing style. There's less methodicalness, less stress placed on clearing out an area so you can move freely onto the next one or explore it for treasure in peace.

Like, I love Stormveil - every Souls game seems to have a Stormveil analogue and they're all brilliant, and it's arguably the pinnacle of that style of area. Part of the fun of those is just the sheer number of hidden paths, which you don't get so much with DSx. But even in Stormveil you can get away with a more random, flightier style of play

^ I felt this way about DeS, which extremely felt this way. Before Elden Ring came out I was thinking "how can a design so focused on micro-training translate into an open world?"

It's a concession that's made with the open world format. Where in the DSx games, enemies will be placed in more-or-less a line which you are best-off aggroing and fighting one at a time, I ER you might come across a whole wide field full of enemies largely scattered around or clustered into groups, which aren't usually too hard to fight all at once.

Something that might have worked is if FromSoft had made it so that aggro ranges changed depending on the environment. So for example in narrower, more linear areas like caves and catacombs, enemies would chase you a bit more and you might not be able to just run / dodge past them all

You're right, fgti, even in 2-2 in DeS, enemies will follow you right down that series of jumps, often to their deaths

New story trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uT8wGtB3yQ

dog latin if you're looking to up the ante I think there's a talisman you can equip that ups an enemy's aggro and keep their focus on you.

Oh no, certainly not. The difficulty isn't what I'm talking about. Elden Ring is plenty hard. It's just a different vibe, different way of playing, and now I've gone back to the earlier games I can see why that might make hardcore Souls fans feel different about ER

I enjoyed the new trailer very much. It told me nothing other than... maybe Nepheli Loux has some link to the DLC? Big if true!