Elden Ring (George RR Martin and From Software)

Zero-Cool

Consecrated snowfield catacombs done, magic town done (piss off ghost!), Haligtree tops done and I'm onto elphael (sp). Christ it's simply **** incredible how From continue to create these beautiful and impeccably designed levels.

Also, Loretta was a bit annoying and Lanetta ash (goddamn these similar names) was a bit useless so i dusted off mimic tear and we wrecked her. Definitely need to start using mimic tear more often again.

Vicxas

Spoiler Warning

A bloody Astel in a mining Dungeon. Oh FROM. You horrible bastards.

gimli2112

Black Knife Ringleader, sigh. Black Knife Tiche earned, sighs heavier. 132FP cost sighs heavier still.

johnny_ultimate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118890128#Comment_118890128

Seeing people discover this horrible surprise is one of my favourite parts of this thread.

gimli2112

I may just quit while I feel I'm ahead

seraphimvc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118890134#Comment_118890134

you can use the unlimited FP flask :D but ya i think Tiche+10 is nice but situational. Mimic is still my go-to tanky spirit and before that i used the 5 shield bros.

J. Marston

96 hours in and I've reached the Capital Outskirts.

The map makes the inner walls look like a colossal city.

Retr0gamer

I'm enjoying the meta game of watching Elden Ring slowly creepy up my steam list of most played games. Currently in number 6 just behind Trails in the Sky SC. I'm pretty sure this is going to over take PUBG which is in number 1 with 124 hours.

sweetie

150 hrs in and i'm at the Haligtree/ Ephael area. Those revenants can fcuk right off!

Stone Deaf 4evr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118892781#Comment_118892781

met the twin gargoyles in siofra river area, they can also F right off. the 1on 1 fight doesnt appear to be fundamentally difficult, but that poxy poison has a rapid buildup, and then the other lad wades in at the halfway point.

gimli2112

what level are you taking your toon to? I'm at 120 and kinds reluctant to bring it further which is a hang up from my bloodborne days. I do find I'm screaming at the tv recently about how unfair everything has become. Maybe that's a sign I need to level up more?

I realise people can beat the game at level one equipped with a stick but for the record, that's not me.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118892945#Comment_118892945

Leave them be for now. Do Ranni's Quest which leads to summon ash upgrade materials. Come back with mimic tear +10. **** them up and whizz on their corpses. If you have a faith build, lightning on your weapon works nicely.

Zero-Cool

The ulcerated tree boss in Haligtree is kicking my ass, no way i can beat this using melee and no summons. Headed back to snowfield and found the bastard asyel in the mine ye were talking about. Jesus, another one to come back to.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118893012#Comment_118893012

Yeah that ulcerated tree boss is a f*cklump. Took me maybe 15+ tries. No room to move, rot, and he hits like a motherf*cker. Main advice is do whatever you can to negate the rot (armour, bolluses, talismans, wonderous physick), and just hammer him as fast and hard as possible.

Stone Deaf 4evr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118892974#Comment_118892974

Will do, went and killed the dragon in Caleid after beating my head against the gargoyles.

put Latenna on a rocky outcrop at the edge of his arena and was free to dart in and out on torrent taking swipes at his legs and wings while she whittled him down with a barrage of arrows, quite satisfying. Also did the inverted tower which was a cool idea.

i really must use more of my consumables and crafting, i'm a fiend for picking up pretty much every material I find, but use very little of them. I craft the furcalling remedy in batches of 20 so I'm never stuck, but I must play around more with some of the other things like poison pots etc.

johnny_ultimate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118893012#Comment_118893012

Not sure what your ranged attacks are like, but it is possible to run back to the branch you use to get over there in the first place and pick the tree boss off from a safe spot.

Interested Observer

Finally beat those god damn gargoyles earlier. Just took it very slowly, got the first one to near half health, summoned my mimic then, managed to kill the first one quickly enough and then just fought the second one reeealllly slowly, one hit at time, no risks taken. I'd had to leave and come back to them several times as I levelled up, probably have gained 20 levels since I first encountered them.

Zero-Cool

Moghwyn palace, another absolutely incredible location with an epic boss.

Zero-Cool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118893144#Comment_118893144

Nope, only a shyte bow and arrow. I read swarm of flies really helps which i just picked up in moghwyn palace, just need another 3 faith levels to use it but might come in handy to have a ranged spell going forward.

sweetie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118893177#Comment_118893177

My go to farming spot! Really cool level alright

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118893502#Comment_118893502

My unintentional farming spot! I had to go through the farming areas about 5-6 times as I kept being killed by the deathbirds/dogs when I'd already earned 150k+ runes, which meant I kept getting those back each time I got back to that spot.

Zero-Cool

Ah lads how do i cast a spell, specifically swarm of flies?

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118893532#Comment_118893532

If it's an incantation, you need a seal. If it's a sorcery, you need a staff.

https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Sacred+Seals

So for swarm of flies, you need a seal. If you don't have one, I think the double-crone in the Roundtable Hold sells a base-level one (Finger Seal), but obviously higher level ones will make Swarm of Flies do more damage.

Zero-Cool

Thanks i have 2 but not high enough stats to actually use them fml.

Penn

Swarm of Flies only really works because it builds up blood loss, but if you have other bleed weapons you should be okay. The tree spirit is weak to bleed, but also frostbite. If you have the Nagakiba and apply a cold ash of war to it, you can do frost and bleed damage to it. Plus it has great reach as it's the longest katana.

shrewdness

Finished this over the weekend, what a game. Haven't felt that sense of mystery and discovery in a game for a long, long time.

Probably around 140 hours put in by the end, it's the kind of game I'd have binged flat out when I was younger though haven't as much time for that now, but glad I spaced it out over 5 weeks or so(only I was off sick a few weeks ago, I'd be still going at it!) as a game of this scale and depth shouldn't be rushed. Think I found all the optional & underground areas, but seems like there are still loads of optional/field bosses I've missed, not to mention NPC quests I didn't know even existed.

I only got into From games over the last couple of years so I haven't had the desire or time to do a NG+ playthrough on any of them since, but I definitely will on this to try out a different build, do new quests etc. I'll give it a bit of time before that though! Nearly reluctant to move on from the first playthrough yet, as I was exploring a bit more after the final boss, and I'm still finding new catacombs and dungeons in areas I skimmed over previously.

johnny_ultimate

I’m not someone who is too drawn to NG+ in general (just don’t tend to play games beyond a first full play through), and one thing that makes me particularly hesitant with Elden Ring is the prospect of DLC. I remember with Bloodborne I had casually tried out the first area or two in NG+ then moved on, but the DLC criteria meant I had to play through a decent chunk of the game again to unlock it! Or perhaps it was that I felt under levelled for the Old Hunters without playing through most of the main campaign again.

For now I’m inclined to leave my endgame save be, maybe do a little bit of extra exploring and co-op to help friends, just in case I wanted to play through any DLC (that may not even happen!) with my original build.

Zero-Cool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118893617#Comment_118893617

I haven't found that yet and can't apply any ash to my Rivers of Blood. Only wanted Swa of Flies as it was a recommended range spell to use. Looks like the seal i can buy at the round i should be able to use so will give that a go.

Zero-Cool

Wow swarm of flies made bits of ulcerated tree boss, i don't even feel guilty about that cheese.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118893901#Comment_118893901

Regardless of people's opinions on whether cheese strategies should be used or not, some pricks just deserve it. That tree spirit is one of them.