Elden Ring: YOU DIED on a horse

Well, I beat Mohg on my new character after nearly a week of re-learning all the timings, so vanilla strength halberd guy is ready for the dlc. At first phase 2 once again felt impossible, and now I'll almost miss fighting him over and over again. Stockholm syndrome for boss movesets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD1saF3RCxU

Noice. I'm trying to think, if I have my end-game OP guy still sitting in virtual purgatory, where I left him (her?), where should I go first to remind myself how to play this game and ready myself for the DLC?

Running through Elphael would be a proper endgame training course.

@ Jordan, a thrilling video. A message appraisal saved your life! I think I was always kinda over-powered by the time I made it to Mohg and so I never really basked in the beauty of his moveset. What a sublimely designed boss he is

Ha, that message appraisal was when I knew it was the run (although I was pretty high health already - but ended at zero flasks, so who knows). It's more exciting to be just good enough, I mean it would be boring to never take a hit.

Watching some other videos I realized that the one explosion move that got me more than any other -- you just cannot roll into it, seemingly, you need to run around him or get a lot of distance (which maybe is not possible if you're right in his face).

Was pleasantly surprised to find that my older brother, who has always admired the FromSoft games and has attempted every one from Dark Souls 1 forward but has given up in frustration and resignation each time with “I don’t think I’m good enough at video games to do this”, for some reason recently got a fire under his ass and willed himself to sit down and beat Elden Ring.

Which he did. Then he went on to beat Bloodborne. Then Dark Souls 1. Then Dark Souls 3. Then back to Elden Ring to get a character ready for the DLC. Been texting with him throughout and it sounds like he’s wrecking shit now and absolutely stoked that he finally cracked it. #1 obsessed super fan.

There’s a wealth of context surrounding the dude’s mental health and what he’s going through right now that I won’t get into. But he confided that just being able to accomplish this one dumb thing has helped him in an outsized way. Been a shelter for him.

So yeah. Pretty rad. Video games can be good for you.

That's brilliant! I love that

Also: ELDEN RING!!!

I went back through my playthroughs saved across PS5 and PS4 versions. I currently have:

- A Lvl 250(ish) NG playthrough where I've speed run through to the Elden Beast to get the platinum, but with very few sites of grace lit and a minimal amount of sidequests (likely including Mohg)
- The start of another playthrough Lvl 250 where I was fed up and started knocking off random NPCs including Kale and Turtle Pope. A celestial absolution seems to do nothing to bring them back
- My current playthrough where I've done about half the game but still not killed Mohg

So I'm wondering exactly how much of the game I'll need to have done to get the full expansion experience. What if, for example, Kale turns up in the expansion and I've killed him?

I wish I had answers for you but if you killed Kale and the Pope there are no answers for you

Luckily I didn't do it in my latest playthrough

Lol. DL, I would be shocked if the DLC involved NPCs from the main game, they've never done that before to my knowledge. Once you get in, it should be a fresh experience that's the same for everyone. I think the main thing is getting all the bell bearings so that you can buy upgrade materials for the sick new weapons.

In my playthrough I've reached Maliketh, the boss I was most dreading (because he's so fast, and seems ideally suited for dex builds). On my strength build I can only catch him with R1s, but that's fine. It's coming along though, I need to re-learn what to do in phase 2.

I got to properly do the Godskin Duo boss for the first time, since on my original playthrough they both died instantly from the bleed glitch. So that was a blast. I don't know why people say they're "badly designed", the skinny one is much less aggressive than say Ornstein, and they give you breaks like a) they share one life bar b) they have shorter individual life bars so you get windows where you only have to fight one, even if they eventually resummon the other one. Idk I liked it.

maybe i did the right thing by murdering EVERYONE then, haha.

i would love it if the DLC integrated elements of the main game though. it's criminal they cut Kale's quest as it's got some of the most affecting stuff in there and explains everything about the Great Caravan and the plight of the merchants

Funny, I never had too much trouble with Maliketh or Godskin Duo. Do you use summons / tears?

Placidusax though... I was stuck on him FOREVER; and also, weirdly, the mounted knight guarding the entrance to Maliketh - I died to him more than the boss!

Do you use summons / tears?

Never. :) No slight to those who do, it just doesn't feel satisfying when I do, like I haven't really engaged with the mechanics of the fight.

the mounted knight guarding the entrance to Maliketh - I died to him more than the boss!

Oh yeah he's famously tough. So, I *did* summon someone on him this time around, just because I remember fighting him solo the first time and I didn't feel like doing it again.

i don't ever summon (although I caved on the Malenia fight), but I used Mimic Tear for the majority of my first playthrough. I couldn't imagine beating Elden Beast without some sort of tear

i summoned for godskin duo and we had an *absolute blast*. tag teamed effectively, just about saving each other in the nick of time, both getting right to the end of our health as we finally nailed the last one. was a lot of fun. lots of jumping around at the end.

Oh and i formally challenge all bad elden rings to a contest to see how slowly we can beat this game

Ha you are ON. I will see you back here in 2025.

― Stoop Crone (Trayce), Wednesday, April 6, 2022 9:22 AM

I would like to propose I might win this, because it is now 2024 and I am still yet to get a game any further than Farum Azula.

(I haven't gotten to Farum Azula lol)

You can do it! Someday!

I just got done with Faram Azula myself. Learned Maliketh a bit better this time, got insanely lucky with this phase 2 after a few cumulative hours of practice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B1OXDU-Z-Y

I'm on NG+2 and hoping it's not bad form to use this to play the DLC...

Nah, it just means the DLC will be that much harder!

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

I was hoping for a beautiful no-hit dance where I learned to dodge every attack, but this was as close as I came for Godfrey:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUunE7zX6zI

Incredible boss, I appreciated it much more this time. Only the final fight left for this pre-dlc playthrough, which I'm not as excited about but I do kind of want that hammer.

What hammer?

This hammer: https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Marika's+Hammer

Ohhh right. I did so much trading that I forgot even which remembrance birthed which weapon

Preordered the DLC! ELDEN RING!

I have a bit of homework to do now though, namely beating Mohg in this current run-through

I bought the DLC PC edition as I have a steam deck and a better graphics card than when I bought it on ps5.

I suck at it again now (I think I was at Altus plateau in my ps5 playthrough but I barely remember) . When yous are doing subsequent playthroughs do you generally cut to running through the main quest/legacy dungeons more quickly and use better knowledge of the game to compensate for relative lack of levelled up stats? I don't want to redo every Limgrave side dungeon just to grind numbers but I died to fuckin Margit last night

Also what is your favourite early game dex weapon

Hah, I'm in exactly the same boat - booted it up last night to try and refamiliarise myself and I SUCK!
I've gotten so used to playing Dark Souls I/II and they play fairly differently - especially as I seem to have specced myself a pure Intelligence build on this one, and I'm used to rolling with a tanky strength build on those other games.
Also hve just got to Altus Plateau and not sure what I'm doing with myself - it's one of these literal crossroads in the game where I'm not sure what to do next: Do I go to Mt Gelmir and Magma Mansion? Do I walk right on up to Leyndell? Or do I go to that poison swamp in the North? Oh god, that place is horrible!
I'm pretty sure I've done all the underground Ranni/Fia mucker-aboutery, so that's fine.
Like Sgt. Biscuits, I'm not sure whether I should be doing all these catacombs and side dungeons or not. Currently, I'm more interested in doing a few NPC quests (Sellen, Nepheli Loux) and ultimately beating Mohg so I'm ready for the DLC. But I feel like I'm doing myself a disservice if I skip these things.
I've opted to putting a skull on any evergaol or side dungeon I haven't completed, just in case I want to come back to it. It's also useful to check on Fextralife to see what's in a catacomb before attempting it.

I think one of the things I need to do is re-spec soon. My impression of this game is that it encourages you to start with Int magic and swap over to Faith later on. I'm not at that stage of the game, but I'm so used to melee combat since playing the Dark Souls games, I'm wondering what sort of build I should go for. Especially considering you do need an element of ranged attacks in ER.

My favorite early game dex weapon is the uchi for sure, it feels as good as it did in DS1. I was intrigued by the great epee but didn't use it this time around, same for the twinblade. Everyone uses the Bloodhound's Fang, of course (which is why I never really did).

I definitely skipped whatever I felt like skipping on my second playthrough, although now I'm going back to the caves and dungeons that I missed. Your stats will get levelled up regardless (it did help to do southern Limgrave rather than going right to Stormveil though).

My impression of this game is that it encourages you to start with Int magic and swap over to Faith later on.

Oh really, why is that? My impression is that it encourages you to incorporate a secondary stat later on, whatever you're using (because it offers more boss & unique weapons that require investment in multiple stats to use). I stubbornly went without a ranged attack this time, but now that I'm done with the game (lol) I'm going to experiment with more miracles.

Speaking of which I got just good & lucky enough to beat the Elden Beast again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHrzCeQw_3A

Well, speaking in terms of magic builds - you're almost definitely going to do Liurnia before Leyndell, so you'll encounter a lot more sorcery magic earlier on. Then once you hit mid-game Faith feels vastly OP

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

Coming back to ER, it's mindboggling how many weapons and different build combinations there are. I'm going to have to look up a few good ones before I re-spec. I think on my first full playthrough, I was some sort of beast cleric, which was cool

I like how, unlike a few of the other Souls games, Elden Beast is significantly tough to beat. I mean, Lord Gwyn and King Allant weren't easy-peasy per se, but they were abetted by long run-back and not that tough. I don't know what the end bosses are like for Bloodborne, Sekiro and the other DS's though.

This might help people

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E7R0spaeQw

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!