Elden Ring: YOU DIED on a horse

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!

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