Elden Ring: New Fromsoft rpg

[Lazy8s]

Looking good koralis

On my side, trying out Power stancing the Hand of Melania and Rivers of Blood. They’re both katanas so it’s should work And waterfowl is still available. More testing later…..

[shrike126]

He’s a giant pain in the ass I don’t know what he’s like after the nerf, but all I could think of was a bullet hell boss. More dodging and running than anything else and that gigantic health pool to whittle away at.

Yeah now you know why everyone else complains about it. Its tedious. They should have let us use Torrent for that boss.

Totally makes sense now why folks were complaining. I definitely don't think he's overall too terribly difficult. It's just that you have to slog through Radagon AGAIN to get to him, every time, and once you do, you spend all your time sprinting across the map to get within melee range again.

This might be the first fight I'm not feeling inclined to finish out of tedium.

[Lazy8s]

Totally makes sense now why folks were complaining. I definitely don't think he's overall too terribly difficult. It's just that you have to slog through Radagon AGAIN to get to him, every time, and once you do, you spend all your time sprinting across the map to get within melee range again.

This might be the first fight I'm not feeling inclined to finish out of tedium.

Yeah you nailed it. It isn’t complex or anything, it’s just a slog start to finish. It’s worth finishing though if you want the sword you can get from the beast’s remembrance. It’s Wave of Gold ash kills about all of the Mohgwyn sleepers in one hit, amazing farming.

[shrike126]

Yeah you nailed it. It isn’t complex or anything, it’s just a slog start to finish. It’s worth finishing though if you want the sword you can get from the beast’s remembrance. It’s Wave of Gold ash kills about all of the Mohgwyn sleepers in one hit, amazing farming.

Well ****... I do want that sword and I suppose it would be hard to talk someone into dropping it for me on Xbox.

[shrike126]

Me: Damn this Malenia chick is tough. Maybe I'll farm up another dozen points in strength and take my Cross-Naginata to +10 before I try again?

Meanwhile, there's this ****ing bullshit.

[Meteor_of_War]

Me: Damn this Malenia chick is tough. Maybe I'll farm up another dozen points in strength and take my Cross-Naginata to +10 before I try again?

Meanwhile, there's this ****ing bullshit.

You have to keep in mind all those people with impressive videos never tell you how many tries it took them.

The best tactics for Malenia (without having to master a strat by practicing for hours and hours) involve using a weapon or spell that deals massive bloodloss or frostbite procs. Because of her healing ability you want to take her down FAST. First time i beat her was with Sword of n&f and it was a real task. Lots of stick and move and took a long time. Second time i beat her was with Rivers of Blood and it was laughable how much easier it was.

Blasphemous blade is another weapon with a great skill that takes her down quickly, if you have the stats for it.

[Lazy8s]

You have to keep in mind all those people with impressive videos never tell you how many tries it took them.

The best tactics for Malenia (without having to master a strat by practicing for hours and hours) involve using a weapon or spell that deals massive bloodloss or frostbite procs. Because of her healing ability you want to take her down FAST. First time i beat her was with Sword of n&f and it was a real task. Lots of stick and move and took a long time. Second time i beat her was with Rivers of Blood and it was laughable how much easier it was.

Blasphemous blade is another weapon with a great skill that takes her down quickly, if you have the stats for it.

A lot of them never show you what level they are either.

Agreed on strats for Malenia. After several kills, I have to give Blasphemous blade the nod, simply because of the knock down, and the range. It just wrecks her.

[Meteor_of_War]

A lot of them never show you what level they are either.



Agreed on strats for Malenia. After several kills, I have to give Blasphemous blade the nod, simply because of the knock down, and the range. It just wrecks her.

Blasphemous blade FTW. I put my summon sign down for a while today and got a couple people using it. They died in 2nd phase but it was definitely awesome seeing how powerful it was against her, and at good range. I can only imagine what it might be like using it and also your mimic using it.

[Lazy8s]

Blasphemous blade FTW. I put my summon sign down for a while today and got a couple people using it. They died in 2nd phase but it was definitely awesome seeing how powerful it was against her, and at good range. I can only imagine what it might be like using it and also your mimic using it.

It’s pretty epic. I used my mimic on her recently with the BB and we had an alternating knockdown going on. It never stays that way, but makes for quick work on her as long as she can’t heal

I just dove in on another play for the final boss. No doubt, both phases are the worst in the game, hands down. What a tedious needless grind.

[Lazy8s]

So I closed out that last playthrough. Level 160 with the sword of Milos and Tiche. Did the Lord of frenzied flame on this one. So endings I’ve gotten since launch:

Age Of The Stars (Best)
Lord Of The Frenzied Flame
Age Of Order
Age Of Fracture

Age of the Stars is off Ranni’s quest line. The English dialogue is depressingly Fromsoft, but apparently the real meaning is lost in translation and is ‘better’ than what we get.

I think there are still a couple more endings, I’ll just view those on YouTube.

From here on out I’ll run one build through NG+ and just play with all the other weapon / spells / incantation options available to keep myself entertained.

Frustrations aside, it’s still been an enjoyable ride.

[Lazy8s]

Shrike, meant to leave another tip for the final slog - use Malenia’s great rune. Makes it easier when you’re healing when you connect with an attack.

[koralis]

Getting there. Now Beside the Great Bridge.

[Meteor_of_War]

So I closed out that last playthrough. Level 160 with the sword of Milos and Tiche. Did the Lord of frenzied flame on this one. So endings I?ve gotten since launch:



Age Of The Stars (Best)

Lord Of The Frenzied Flame

Age Of Order

Age Of Fracture



Age of the Stars is off Ranni?s quest line. The English dialogue is depressingly Fromsoft, but apparently the real meaning is lost in translation and is ?better? than what we get.



I think there are still a couple more endings, I?ll just view those on YouTube.



From here on out I?ll run one build through NG+ and just play with all the other weapon / spells / incantation options available to keep myself entertained.



Frustrations aside, it?s still been an enjoyable ride.

It's an incredible game for sure. I view it as the pinnacle of all From Soft's game development work since Demon's Souls in one massive grand finale of a game. I just feel like this needs to be the end of this chapter of fundamental combat style from them though. Not to sound like a broken record but they really need to take some time and overhaul a lot of the gameplay systems for whatever is their next game and bring it into the modern era.

My fear is they give in and rush out an Elden Ring 2 in a couple years without any real improvements. Really hope they don't do that. That would lead them down the path of Ubisoft, Bethesda, and Activision. Being optimistic, FS has been decent about not releasing the same game over and over. Bloodborne and Sekiro were interesting departures. So i know they are not as bad as those other games. I just want something completely new for their mainline Souls games.

[Lazy8s]

It's an incredible game for sure. I view it as the pinnacle of all From Soft's game development work since Demon's Souls in one massive grand finale of a game. I just feel like this needs to be the end of this chapter of fundamental combat style from them though. Not to sound like a broken record but they really need to take some time and overhaul a lot of the gameplay systems for whatever is their next game and bring it into the modern era.

My fear is they give in and rush out an Elden Ring 2 in a couple years without any real improvements. Really hope they don't do that. That would lead them down the path of Ubisoft, Bethesda, and Activision. Being optimistic, FS has been decent about not releasing the same game over and over. Bloodborne and Sekiro were interesting departures. So i know they are not as bad as those other games. I just want something completely new for their mainline Souls games.

With the tweaks they’re released for this so far, I wonder if their DLC will have any more, better tweaks. I think I saw something about an end of year possible release. To be honest, I’m not expecting anything too radical for this game.

I’m not sure Miyazaki and other decision makers can fully acknowledge that, as amazing as this system has been in the past, it’s time to move forward. Otherwise I think we would have seen something really new here, not just mods on the old formulas.

[koralis]

With the tweaks they’re released for this so far, I wonder if their DLC will have any more, better tweaks. I think I saw something about an end of year possible release. To be honest, I’m not expecting anything too radical for this game.

I’m not sure Miyazaki and other decision makers can fully acknowledge that, as amazing as this system has been in the past, it’s time to move forward. Otherwise I think we would have seen something really new here, not just mods on the old formulas.

They sunk a LOT of time into 3d-ness, open world, etc. As a developer myself (not video games) there's only so many directions you can improve at once reliably. Starting from scratch is harder and takes longer. Now that they have this part down, hopefully they choose to buckle down, figure out what's working, what's not working, play some games from their competitors to see if there are ideas to borrow, etc.

Or it could be that they see one of the best-selling video games of all time and figure that there's no reason to change anything at all.

[Lazy8s]

They sunk a LOT of time into 3d-ness, open world, etc. As a developer myself (not video games) there's only so many directions you can improve at once reliably. Starting from scratch is harder and takes longer. Now that they have this part down, hopefully they choose to buckle down, figure out what's working, what's not working, play some games from their competitors to see if there are ideas to borrow, etc.

Or it could be that they see one of the best-selling video games of all time and figure that there's no reason to change anything at all.

That’s essentially my thought. As much as I’d like to see improvements, I don’t think I’ve ever really mentioned that I do understand why they would be resistant to change. Their combat model, especially when Dark Souls 1 was released, became *The* bar, the standard to beat.

So my perspective is from a player that’s been spoiled by other, similar games with vastly more varied combat methods and tools for the player to use.

To be completely honest, it wouldn’t take much to make me completely happy with it.

[koralis]

Maliketh phase 2 is a right bastard. Had to forgo my normal strategies and spell mixes because he'd charge me the moment I started powering up even with terra magica (no damage yet.)

However, Stars of Ruin made short work of him once I swapped that one in... more mobile for me, and tracking for him.

[Lazy8s]

Maliketh phase 2 is a right bastard. Had to forgo my normal strategies and spell mixes because he'd charge me the moment I started powering up even with terra magica (no damage yet.)

However, Stars of Ruin made short work of him once I swapped that one in... more mobile for me, and tracking for him.

Yeah he’s a bucket of fun lol. I thought he was one of the cooler end game bosses though.

I just picked up Ranni’s Dark Moon for the first time. I went to the area for the smithing stones past the dragons and just started riding around - first time I’ve seen that rise and can’t believe I missed it before.

Makes me wonder what else I’ve missed lol.

[Lazy8s]

Koralis - have you used the Darkmoon GS at all? Post impressions if you have please. I’ve never tried a build around that and I’m wondering if it would be good to go into NG+ with.

[koralis]

Yeah he’s a bucket of fun lol. I thought he was one of the cooler end game bosses though.

Yeah, kinda reminds me of the spider-money-thing in Nioh 2.

I just picked up Ranni’s Dark Moon for the first time. I went to the area for the smithing stones past the dragons and just started riding around - first time I’ve seen that rise and can’t believe I missed it before.

Makes me wonder what else I’ve missed lol.

My previous thing about Ranni's after the flask.. wrong. Ranni should be BEFORE the flask otherwise you just waste too much of the free FP time due to the slow back-to-back casting of Ranni and Comet azur.


Offed Radagon a couple of times... working on the beast. Totally not what I was envisioning.

[koralis]

Koralis - have you used the Darkmoon GS at all? Post impressions if you have please. I’ve never tried a build around that and I’m wondering if it would be good to go into NG+ with.

Have never even equipped it. I have a thing for reach. I do substandard damage with my current allotment in melee, but really go to town with the spells.


This reddit doesn't seem to care for it much. Seems the ash of war is slow. Then again this was before the patch that sped up greatswords, so maybe obsolete.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Eldenring/comments/tgzsbk/darkmoon_greatsword_is_it_worth/

Nah I don’t think so. Made a build for it and got it to +10. The damage was decent but the weapon art is slow. Not worth it for end game. Wish I could get that ancient somber stone back

What the DMGS wins at is focus efficiency. If you do have the time and space to use it, no weapon or spell will come close to the sustained ranged damage you will do with this weapon at the cost you can do it in. Two weapon arts on any other weapon will equal the cost of one minute of mayhem on this greatsword.

As a boss slayer, this weapon is as situational as the blade of night and flame post-nerf. But as a trash clearer, an aoe spammable, an entryway into spellblade greatsword gameplay, and a weapon themed to cold damage, this weapon seems to have promise!

In other news, at Pax East, a showdown for the ages. We all know how this went.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Eldenring/comments/uaff7x/let_me_solo_her_and_malenia_at_pax_east_today/

[Meteor_of_War]

Couple weeks old video so you may have seen it already, but i wanted to share since its yet another one that does a great job articulating the issues with combat and boss fights From Soft critically needs to address:

https://youtu.be/nEyjdc-DIb8

Sorry it's a kind of long one. But grab a drink and watch it, definitely worth the time.

One of the great points he makes is about how bosses (especially the later game ones) have gotten so flashy with ridiculously long and devastating combos that all the player can really do is just get out of the way of the spectacle and wait for it to be over before responding with a 1-2 hit attack before it happens all over again.

This is at the core of my complaints about the melee combat needing an overhaul. The player needs to have some way to stay in the fight and counter what the boss is doing. Sekiro was actually good about this with the posture break system, and Bloodborne with its Malenia like health regen on hits. Have to say, at this point i think those two games probably have From Soft's best combat design. I suppose there's always parrying, but that's pretty much it and not all builds are made for parrying, not to mention can everyone master the timing.

[Lazy8s]

Have never even equipped it. I have a thing for reach. I do substandard damage with my current allotment in melee, but really go to town with the spells.


This reddit doesn't seem to care for it much. Seems the ash of war is slow. Then again this was before the patch that sped up greatswords, so maybe obsolete.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Eldenring/comments/tgzsbk/darkmoon_greatsword_is_it_worth/

In other news, at Pax East, a showdown for the ages. We all know how this went.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Eldenring/c...ax_east_today/

That pax East!

Thanks for the Reddit on the Darkmoon. If I give it a try I’ll let you know.

[Mangler]

Youtube is full of vids claiming it is insane so it is probably safe to assume that it got buffed.

[Lazy8s]

I’m going to give it a shot eventually. I’ve done INT/DEX/ARC and FTH builds so far, but a solid GS wielding mage…haven’t done that yet.

It’s kind of weird seeing people complaining about the time for the charged attack though. That’s almost every charge attack in the game. If your timing is off you’re going to get punished.

Edit: I just took the hidden Faraam Azula boss down so easily with my blasphemous blade / Malenia great rune regen build….hesitant to switch this out. Healing every hit keeps me alive, which makes it easier to play this game

[Meteor_of_War]

I’m going to give it a shot eventually. I’ve done INT/DEX/ARC and FTH builds so far, but a solid GS wielding mage…haven’t done that yet.

It’s kind of weird seeing people complaining about the time for the charged attack though. That’s almost every charge attack in the game. If your timing is off you’re going to get punished.

Edit: I just took the hidden Faraam Azula boss down so easily with my blasphemous blade / Malenia great rune regen build….hesitant to switch this out. Healing every hit keeps me alive, which makes it easier to play this game

I think a sorcery build around Darkmoon GS could be good. I'd maybe supplement it with the Moonveil for certain situations where I want a faster katana melee option.

As an INT build, by the end of my playthrough I kind of wished I did that instead of using the Sword of N&F for so long. In hindsight Sword of N&F was a great weapon but had some flaws that got exposed in the late game boss fights. The passive frost of Darkmoon would have been useful, and I just overall prefer katanas over straight swords. Those two options would have been more fun IMO. But if playing PvP I wouldn't rely on Darkmoon, that's where people's "too slow" complaints are coming from.

[Lazy8s]

I think a sorcery build around Darkmoon GS could be good. I'd maybe supplement it with the Moonveil for certain situations where I want a faster katana melee option.

As an INT build, by the end of my playthrough I kind of wished I did that instead of using the Sword of N&F for so long. In hindsight Sword of N&F was a great weapon but had some flaws that got exposed in the late game boss fights. I just overall prefer katanas over straight swords. Those two options would have been more fun IMO.

I get it - I quit using the sword of N&F after the first playthrough, and went light on the katanas just because I wanted to try different weapons. I think I’m going to take this build into NG+ and once I unlock respec, then I’ll try the Darkmoon out.

For now, just took down Theodorix > that was a surprisingly difficult fight. I expected to see similar attacks from others like him, but between his size and new attacks, took me 3 or 4 attempts. Got more dragon hearts and a new magma breath from it though.

[Meteor_of_War]

I just checked online and was surprised to see the Darkmoon's scaling for INT at +10 is only B. That's a disgrace for a Moonlight GS successor.

[Lazy8s]

I just checked online and was surprised to see the Darkmoon's scaling for INT at +10 is only B. That's a disgrace for a Moonlight GS successor.

LOl it is. I don’t understand their scaling choices for certain weapons, and this highlights that. Such an iconic weapon should have S scaling all the way.

[Meteor_of_War]

Questionable choices all around with this damn game.

[Lazy8s]

Questionable choices all around with this damn game.

There are. Never thought I would see the day I actually had to beat a damn pokemon to beat a Fromsoft game.

[Mangler]

I think it is pretty messed up that the only colossal sword with strength s-scaling has an int requirement.

[Lazy8s]

I think it is pretty messed up that the only colossal sword with strength s-scaling has an int requirement.

Which one is that? FTR their split scaling model is just annoying. I get it for weapons like Sword of N&F, but so many others make no sense at all.

[Mangler]

Ruins greatsword, it requires 50 strength, 16 int.

[Lazy8s]

Ruins greatsword, it requires 50 strength, 16 int.

Ok I remember seeing that.

[Meteor_of_War]

Ruins greatsword, it requires 50 strength, 16 int.

Makes sense to need some INT due to the gravitational skill it has, but yeah being the ONLY colossal sword option with S scaling?

When I think colossal sword build I think STR. So anyone wanting to do a pure STR build is SOL needing to dump some points into INT if they want the best STR scaling colossal.

Its almost like they were intentionally trying to be different with this game just for the sake of it, and ignoring all previously established rules and lessons learned.

[Lazy8s]

Makes sense to need some INT due to the gravitational skill it has, but yeah being the ONLY colossal sword option with S scaling?

When I think colossal sword build I think STR. So anyone wanting to do a pure STR build is SOL needing to dump some points into INT if they want the best STR scaling colossal.

Its almost like they were intentionally trying to be different with this game just for the sake of it, and ignoring all previously established rules and lessons learned.

If I were a min/max type of player that would set my OCD off pretty badly

Yeah it’s nuts for sure.

[Meteor_of_War]

I feel so conflicted with this game at times. On the one hand I do believe its the culmination of over a decade of their games' best features rolled into one title. But then I feel like they took some steps backwards with certain things. I just don't understand it.

Its grating on my mind too, because I have finished and moved on from playing the game, but I am still thinking about it and watching Elden Ring analysis videos on a daily basis. Its truly polarizing and fascinating. But I really need to just stop and get on with my next game(s).

[Lazy8s]

I feel so conflicted with this game at times. On the one hand I do believe its the culmination of over a decade of their games' best features rolled into one title. But then I feel like they took some steps backwards with certain things. I just don't understand it.

Its grating on my mind too, because I have finished and moved on from playing the game, but I am still thinking about it and watching Elden Ring analysis videos on a daily basis. Its truly polarizing and fascinating. But I really need to just stop and get on with my next game(s).

That’s a thing with me, on all of their Souls material. I don’t know if I’m just hooked on looking for that hidden thing that grants me OP status or I just genuinely enjoy the pain

I’ve got to stop trying to figure out the motives behind some of the decisions though. It is what it is

[Meteor_of_War]

A new Team Ninja Souls-like game would be a good remedy for that.

Not sure how far off that is though.