Elden Ring: YOU DIED on a horse

Fizzles, I skipped that Salamander fwiw. I've left a marker to go back when I'm a bit more powered up

I have dropped my trusty Blasphemkus Blade and currently sport a Quality Milady (lol, the names, yes) with the Wing Stance Ash, which is great fun and very effective in melee.

Beat the Hippoporcupine last night with my two NPC summons. Couldn't imagine fighting these bosses solo really

Church District is indeed amazing, just a beautiful blend of environments and challenges. You must be close to Scadutree Avatar.

Hm I’m at the same part. Just got burnt by a magma dragon in the pit (after clearing the way to Jagged Peak). I dunno if I’m enthralled by this new world but I certainly could see myself living here

I'm on a break, I fell into a sort of dream-come-true musical collab (fgti, I'm just going to assume you know each other) and now I will feel bad about myself if I play ER instead of working on this at every opportunity.

Fizzles, I skipped that Salamander fwiw. I've left a marker to go back when I'm a bit more powered up

jordan, you need to get your priorities right.

i just had to decide whether to explore a new shadow realm area or watch beverley hills cop 3 we all have to make tough calls.

has anyone been to finger ruins of dheo yet? some incredibly creepy enemies, new ones, but also those horrible hand things.

Don't really know how I got there but the moment I arrived and looked round at the um decor I thought gtfo miyazaki are you really doing this?

Fizzles and LG otm on the overall world design - it feels knotty on a larger scale than the base game but seems easier to forget where I haven't explored. Like I did Bonny Village days ago but until today completely failed to notice the obvious 2 bridge route on the map going out to a huge fucking building in a lake.

I've had a bit of a break but a session this afternoon - cathedral (as per last paragraph), cracked into church district, explored cerulean coast and temple town a bit more.

Though I suppose part of it is that it's possible to open up a lot of the map quickly - my brain was a bit overloaded with gloomy locations from the first week's play.

Lol, I was watching a video the other day and realized I totally missed a route from Bonny Town where you can climb the hill by the perfumer's tree and go into a poison swamp (tm).

Okay Shadow Keep is easily the best legacy dungeon since Stormveil. Absolutely staggering!

Speaking of Bonny Village, anyone notice the shedded snake skin on the outskirts? I wonder what that's all about. Could be something to do with Messmer, but looks more like Eiglay, the Rykard serpent.

I found it very funny that the route up to Bonny Village is a very long ladder, where people write soapstone messages saying "Visions Of Snake" asa reference to Metal Gear Solid. Then you get to the top and there literally is a snake!

But yeah, I've gone from finding the first area of the DLC a bit stretched out and empty to being bowled over by the sheer number of paths I can go down to explore. Really need a system to let me come back to areas I've explored but not properly!

It really opens up when you start exploring the Shadow Keep, doesn't it, although after taking down that hippopotamus thing hardcore the dude riding a boar and the Scadutree Avatar seem significantly more difficult.

just killed the hippo - which i found plenty difficult thanks - but am heading back to the temple ruins and Taylew's Ruined Forge before going full Shadow Keep.

Bumped into the Scadutree Avatar! That was a surprise. Managed to somehow get it down to about 15% health on first try by just keeping very close to its left foot and smacking away.

Shadow Keep is just a maze of alternating branches. I keep going back to the various grace sites and realising there's a little path I forgot to go down, leading to another three paths, leading to yet another split! You can get so beautifully lost in there, but man, I am never going to find everything!

Yeah the boar rider dude is mega hard. Scadutree Avatar took me a good twenty goes or so, and then that weird thing of the time you beat it you have three or four potions left.

I tend to find sometimes the boss seems on beast mode and just annihilates you, and you know from early it is doomed, but other times it's like the game goes easy on you. Maybe just luck.

There definitely seems an RNG aspect where a boss will go *absolutely fps destroyingly mad* at you, lining up all its worst multi-move combos at lightning speed, and still hammering away well after you're dead (which happens after about twenty seconds). and then yes, other times where it acts like a big softie that just wants to play with a ball of wool in the corner while you wale on it.

Absolutely! Sometimes that happens and I'm thinking what's the point may as well just restart the PS5. I remember with the Elden Beast trying it absolutely loads then the time I beat it I just got sort of stuck behind it and walloped away until it was dead, had loads of potions left etc.

Haha, okay, let me eat my words about Scadutree Avatar

The first time I fought it, I somehow got stuck on its foot and was able to wale on it without any repercussions for a while

I was wondering if you meant you got to the end or just phase one? Some of the attacks are horrible.

Another thing I hate is trying to get your summon in as it pummels you.

So apparently it's pronoucned "Shadowtree", not "Scoobydoo Tree"

I was wondering if you meant you got to the end or just phase one? Some of the attacks are horrible.

Another thing I hate is trying to get your summon in as it pummels you.

― LocalGarda, Monday, 8 July 2024 15:00 (eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

YES! Why can't you summon until you're a step into the arena?! So annoying! And he just fires those stupid thorns at you before the fog has barely cleared.

Yeah, first phase - what a mean trick! I'm putting a skull on that bit of the map and coming back later with some power-ups.

SPOILERS: I take it he has three phases, based on the messages outside the boss door? *Skee-lo voice*: How am I gonna compete with that?

Yeah he's a nasty one for sure.

xp yeah scadu is the olde English way of spelling shadow supposedly. A la gael for jail

Learned something new today, I guess. I learned about fig wasps last night! Learning.

I had one of those "maybe I'll respec" moments last night after I started to feel guilty about Ordovis'ing my way through the DLC. Backed up and Larval Tear'd a Backhand Blade build. Then restored backup and Larval Tear'd another bloody build. Bleed builds do not please my synapses. I don't know why. There's an air of desperation about them that I just don't like, I like the methodical quality of a bonk bonk

ikwym. as mentioned before Bloodborne dex build was my intro to soulsborne, so bleed builds came naturally, but over time with DS I've adapted, and with this STR-FAI build I've embraced my inner bonk-bonk - there's something hypnotic about the timing of it all. roll, bonk, run, bonk, dodge, bonk, heal, bonk etc. obv i still mainly run in and spam R1 until after I run out of stamina.

Heh I could see that both ways...desperation because you feel the pressure to keep up the attack chains to trigger bleed, but you're also delaying gratification (less damage per hit but you get those big bleed bursts later on), compared to the immediacy of a hard-hitting bonk. That's why I'm so psyched that my current build has both backhand blades and huge bonks.

I wish I could back up on PS5. God knows what'll happen when I want yo reply the DLC again. Will I have to fight Mohg and Radahn all over again? I hope not!

You should be able to upload one cloud save, at least (I think people do some malarky with putting saves on USBs too, but I've never tried that).

I don't know what happened with my backup. My initial play through, I was about 100 hours in and at RL 150, and my save file got corrupted. I cried about it to Sony and they did nothing. Then I subsequently started again and dumped about 500 hours into creating five different amazing competitors at different levels, all the ashes and weapons times ten, all craft mats, was duelling like a mf.

Stopped playing for a year and a bit. Came back to the PS5 and... it's my initial play through, my original character, miraculously and horribly reappeared. But it's nice. I'm OK with it. Ordovis and some crucible armour is waging a holy war on these scadu-y losers

Commander Gaius makes Scadutree Avatar seem easy :/

Not sure how I feel about these incredibly long catacombs with a super tough boss at the end. I can't memorise new spells etc unless I go right back to the start

I like how Ongbal has moved from proving you can kill every boss naked while using a club and not getting hit, to using the swaggiest and most cinematic moves possible (with all their long wind-ups perfectly timed).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyrT6vzt7XY

(I'm doing pretty well at avoiding spoilers while on a break so far, I've heard the names of lots of bosses obviously but have averted my gaze for anything I haven't encountered yet.)

same though have gleaned that i can expect a massive and ultraviolent scooby-doo to turn up at some point

ruh-roh

Apologies if I've not been careful enough with discussing stuff, sorry! Wasn't sure where everyone was at.

No no go ahead, it's on me not too look at Elden Ring stuff online if I don't want potential spoilers, lol

yep absolutely, fill your boots. i get quite bored of hidden text stuff.

I’ve moved from blind exploration to ‘check some stuff, avoid looking at other stuff’. Names def don’t bother me.

I am sure I have missed some of those twats with the sparkly pots early game, so I am going to find out where they live and kill them. I want my scooby snacks.

I may also look up some npc quest stuff soon because idk wtf is going on, hornsent this, hornsent that

fave NPC so far - the one who just goes PAAAAIIIIN I'M IN SO MUCH PAIIIIIIN (bcos Bayle).

He seemed really unhappy. I'd like to help him out! But maybe I shouldn't. That's elden ring for you.

I just met him, think I am sort of on his quest now but I didn't consciously choose to help him.

Also killed Messner this evening, found him towards the easier side of bosses.

Back to bonk. I will be trying out that blinky long haft axe and the fiery knight sword when I find them. I'm pleased to be wearing my favourite outfit again! (Fire Prelate gloves, Fire Prelate greaves, Blue Silver chain mail and an exposed head so you can see my stylish hair and eyeballs)