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ELDEN RING |OT| One Ring To Rule Them All

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
Finally done with Limgrave and Stormveil. I think just need to do some minor stuff like kill those three giants in the huge bridge just for completionist sake.

I really had more trouble going through Stormveil than the main bosses itself. I thought it would be more difficult because of all the stuff I’ve seen online especially about Margit. Turns out they’re super easy if you just summon spirits and an NPC like Rogier and Nepheli. I don’t know if there’s like a souls etiquette to not summon stuff since most of the videos I’ve seen online has been doing them solo.

Overall, Stormveil was amazing especially going in blind. So many secret stuff packed around that made me go wtf. Some secrets I even found out by falling to my death and made me think if that was even supposed to be there. I might even go back and farm those knights for the banished armor set since the stats seem pretty good. Problem is that they’re heavy as hell and I need to level my endurance. Also, another Crucible Knight ON A CLIFF fuck me. I died a couple of times on that one alone.
Nothing wrong with summoning NPCs or other players. If you want a more difficult fight, then don't. It's essentially the easy mode. Your level is also going to impact how difficult the bosses are. It's easy to over level in Elden Ring.

The boss fights definitely get more difficult in the late game as well.
 
I got back from a six-day trip and was happy to dive into Dark Souls III again.

Reached Anor Londo and while it didn’t have the intended impact on me since this is my first DS, that was a really cool moment. A bit surprised this area is so small, but I don’t mind. I two-handed my Astora Greatsword and learned to make short work of the Silver Knights, as long as they don’t come at me two-on-one. Making my way inside and all the way back to the big door to open was very stressful especially with the dark beast encountered earlier in the Cathedral of the Deep. That was a really well designed degree of difficulty.

Aldritch was hard and enjoyable. The thousand arrows attack is really badass. His moveset is varied and quite impressive to look at. After a bunch of tries I got him BUT the floating purple balls of light still hit me and killed me 😂 I thought I was safe lmao. Got teleported to the hall in Lothric High Wall and died again there. Good thing the Lothric Knights aren’t much of a threat anymore, cause I don’t wanna lose my hard-earned souls.

I’m ready to face the Dancer of the Boreal Valley, who’s the boss with my favorite chara design in this game.
 

killatopak

Gold Member
Oh my lord…

Double Valiant Gargoyle is kicking my ass.

Their poison sucks as well as their immunities to bleed damage. My Bloodhound Fang deals joke damage. I was basically skirting by having like only 18 Strength and 18 Dexterity because bleed damage was enough. Mostly put my points in Vigor and Endurance.

Basically try my best to kill the first one before I get ganged up by both of them. The problem is the poison not only lasts a long time, it also damages you while in the cloud. To be fair, I think the aoe of the poison was fine at first but there’s like a variant of that move that covers like a fourth of the arena. By the time I kill the first one, I‘ll only have like four hp flasks while a long ass poison timer kills me.

The furthest I got was the second gargoyle had a fourth of his hp then got hit by that spinning move in the air while dodging backwards when you’re supposed to dodge forward or sideways. Backwards seems to still clip me by the time my i frames are gone.

I took a break after like 15-20 tries. I‘ll try again later.
 

DelireMan7

Member
Oh my lord…

Double Valiant Gargoyle is kicking my ass.

Their poison sucks as well as their immunities to bleed damage. My Bloodhound Fang deals joke damage. I was basically skirting by having like only 18 Strength and 18 Dexterity because bleed damage was enough. Mostly put my points in Vigor and Endurance.

Basically try my best to kill the first one before I get ganged up by both of them. The problem is the poison not only lasts a long time, it also damages you while in the cloud. To be fair, I think the aoe of the poison was fine at first but there’s like a variant of that move that covers like a fourth of the arena. By the time I kill the first one, I‘ll only have like four hp flasks while a long ass poison timer kills me.

The furthest I got was the second gargoyle had a fourth of his hp then got hit by that spinning move in the air while dodging backwards when you’re supposed to dodge forward or sideways. Backwards seems to still clip me by the time my i frames are gone.

I took a break after like 15-20 tries. I‘ll try again later.
Yes it's a pretty brutal boss fight.
I always have trouble reading their moves.

I don't have much advice.
I usually never summon on my first playthrough of a Soulsborne but this is one of the boss I allowed myself to summon the NPC available.

Also I have the feeling they're made to be fight later than the moment you meet them (but again with the freedom the game let you, you could meet them at very different level. I think I was too early) so don't hesitate to comeback with few more levels.
 
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I don't know how I did it but I never encountered the double valiant gargoyles. All the better for me. I think it's fair to summon an NPC or spirit ash against a double boss, cause it often gets very chaotic and there isn't much you can do aside from git gud.

I went back to play a little of Elden Ring and made my way through the main gate of Stormveil Castle to the site of grace before Godrick. Those ballistas hit pretty damn hard and I got overwhelmed by the amount of enemies. Still made it through without dying, and realized that enemies drop more runes than in the 1st playthrough, which is very convenient. Gained one level and went to fight Godrick. Overall he was easy but I got hit many times by the delayed attacks.

Back to DS3, I fought the Dancer of the Boreal Valley. She has one of the best entrances in this game. The grab attack and the long combos are devastating to say the least. I used an ember and defeated her on the third try. One of my favorite bosses for sure.
 
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Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
Oh my lord…

Double Valiant Gargoyle is kicking my ass.

Their poison sucks as well as their immunities to bleed damage. My Bloodhound Fang deals joke damage. I was basically skirting by having like only 18 Strength and 18 Dexterity because bleed damage was enough. Mostly put my points in Vigor and Endurance.

Basically try my best to kill the first one before I get ganged up by both of them. The problem is the poison not only lasts a long time, it also damages you while in the cloud. To be fair, I think the aoe of the poison was fine at first but there’s like a variant of that move that covers like a fourth of the arena. By the time I kill the first one, I‘ll only have like four hp flasks while a long ass poison timer kills me.

The furthest I got was the second gargoyle had a fourth of his hp then got hit by that spinning move in the air while dodging backwards when you’re supposed to dodge forward or sideways. Backwards seems to still clip me by the time my i frames are gone.

I took a break after like 15-20 tries. I‘ll try again later.
I had to come back much later to get that one done. My dex/bleed build was worthless in that fight.
 

Fake

Member
Double Gargoyle is insane. The reason why deaths don't show up into ER stats are because people pretty much cheese this battle. Thank god I avoid youtube because wouldn't be the same experience.
 
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killatopak

Gold Member
Double Gargoyle is insane. The reason why deaths don't show up into ER stats are because people pretty much cheese this battle. Thank god I avoid youtube because wouldn't be the same experience.
I think that was patched out. At least that was what everyone said when I was looking for a strat. Best strat I found basically necessitated a respec but I didn't want to change out of my first run experience.

My gameplan is basically be tanky enough to have enough health or flasks until the last phase 1v1.

What I did was explore Atlus Plateau and collect a bunch of Golden Seeds. Just need to finish up Putrid Tree on the Radahn area dungeon to have 11 charges of my flask when I previously only had 8. Also crafted a bunch of antidote items and plan to use rune arcs since it's just sitting in my inventory curtesy of my RPG hoarding syndrome.
 

Fake

Member
I think that was patched out. At least that was what everyone said when I was looking for a strat. Best strat I found basically necessitated a respec but I didn't want to change out of my first run experience.

My gameplan is basically be tanky enough to have enough health or flasks until the last phase 1v1.

What I did was explore Atlus Plateau and collect a bunch of Golden Seeds. Just need to finish up Putrid Tree on the Radahn area dungeon to have 11 charges of my flask when I previously only had 8. Also crafted a bunch of antidote items and plan to use rune arcs since it's just sitting in my inventory curtesy of my RPG hoarding syndrome.

The most easy way is explore ways of separate the two brothers and finish the one with the low health. There are obstacles in the arena you fight them.
Funny because of my playerstyle I found this boss more easy than the Gargoley that protect the temple where the Death Guardian is located. That particular boss have an insane amount of damage and health.

Well, this is what I did.
 
Holy shit, the endgame is Dark Souls 3 is no joke. Regular enemies are kicking my ass so hard. The big-ass knights in the consumed king’s garden and the knights in Lothric Castle are surprisingly tough, especially when they use buffs. It almost feels like boss battles. I do enjoy the fact that these slow enemies require careful decision-making like in a real sword fight. I get punished harshly for my mistakes and need to wait for an opening.

Thankfully the consumed king’s garden isn’t a large area. Oceiros wasn’t hard, but he sure was creepy as hell. What a voice he has! I’m gonna venture into the Unintended Graves before returning to Lothric Castle.
 
Holy shit, the endgame is Dark Souls 3 is no joke. Regular enemies are kicking my ass so hard. The big-ass knights in the consumed king’s garden and the knights in Lothric Castle are surprisingly tough, especially when they use buffs. It almost feels like boss battles. I do enjoy the fact that these slow enemies require careful decision-making like in a real sword fight. I get punished harshly for my mistakes and need to wait for an opening.

Thankfully the consumed king’s garden isn’t a large area. Oceiros wasn’t hard, but he sure was creepy as hell. What a voice he has! I’m gonna venture into the Unintended Graves before returning to Lothric Castle.
You’re gonna love the Ringed City DLC…
 
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killatopak

Gold Member
The most easy way is explore ways of separate the two brothers and finish the one with the low health. There are obstacles in the arena you fight them.
Funny because of my playerstyle I found this boss more easy than the Gargoley that protect the temple where the Death Guardian is located. That particular boss have an insane amount of damage and health.

Well, this is what I did.
I found the Guardian near the Beast Clergyman a bit easier. It’s basically a solo Gargoyle fight but yes he was more tankier and does more damage. It also sucks that bleed doesn’t seem to trigger on him as well.

It kinda feels like I’m banging my head in with my build because enemies on that northern cailid area are so tanky. Currently rocking 18 str and 18 dex but have a whopping 50 endurance because what I wanted for my build was a tanky bleed build but I guess it doesn’t work that well. Have a lot of endurance because I’m anticipating wearing the bull goat set. I’m even planning to up my mind to 38 so I can fully heal it with a flask. Like I feel like I’m min maxing the wrong way but just couldn’t help it lol.

Also fuck any Putrid Scarlet Rot bosses. That tree in Cailid particular took me a while. That jump attack is a death sentence when you get hit because you’re swimming in scarlet rot before you even get up. Shit feels like an Oki in a fighting game. The only saving grace was learning it’s huge window to dodge and wack on it on the behind.

Same with that boss in the War Catacomb. Huge command grab damage with instantaneous scarlet rot. Same deal though. Their attacks are very telegraphed and allowed me to whack them afterwards. Status effects on souls games are wild. Holy shit. It feels like it‘s been quite a long time since I ever paid attention to them aside from SMT.
 

killatopak

Gold Member
So uh my sister wants to play Elden Ring but I dunno if she’s ready to git gud. Just wanna know if bow and arrow build is viable in the game since that’s how she likes to play. Just asking if it’s good enough to not want to look up guides and just play casually. I know there’s some ridiculous builds that players have finished the game with like bomb builds but my experience with bows is that they’re just pea shooters I used to shoot those crimson/silver/gold balls with items and ashes of war from afar.

In other news, finally destroyed those gargoyles and black blade kindred in the beast sanctum. Increasing my mind actually worked wonders. I can actually spam my sword ability. As for the Kindred, just equipped my jellyfish shield and patiently waited for openings and managed to block out most attacks due to my 50 endurance. My new wall is now the ball bearing hunter in isolated merchant shack. Like I got very close to killing the dude but those damn dogs always get in the way. Unlike the gargoyles and kindred he deals mixed physical and magical damage so I can’t face tank him and his ridiculous ranged sword.

So far so good but I’ve got like a day left. I think I’m gonna stop at that coffin teleport map. I had fun with Elden Ring but I’m a huge RE fan so gonna come back to this later.
 
So uh my sister wants to play Elden Ring but I dunno if she’s ready to git gud. Just wanna know if bow and arrow build is viable in the game since that’s how she likes to play. Just asking if it’s good enough to not want to look up guides and just play casually. I know there’s some ridiculous builds that players have finished the game with like bomb builds but my experience with bows is that they’re just pea shooters I used to shoot those crimson/silver/gold balls with items and ashes of war from afar.

In other news, finally destroyed those gargoyles and black blade kindred in the beast sanctum. Increasing my mind actually worked wonders. I can actually spam my sword ability. As for the Kindred, just equipped my jellyfish shield and patiently waited for openings and managed to block out most attacks due to my 50 endurance. My new wall is now the ball bearing hunter in isolated merchant shack. Like I got very close to killing the dude but those damn dogs always get in the way. Unlike the gargoyles and kindred he deals mixed physical and magical damage so I can’t face tank him and his ridiculous ranged sword.

So far so good but I’ve got like a day left. I think I’m gonna stop at that coffin teleport map. I had fun with Elden Ring but I’m a huge RE fan so gonna come back to this later.
Bow and arrow build is hard mode. A lot of enemies can dodge them and you have to rely on status effects for bosses, which takes insane crafting.
 

DelireMan7

Member
Game just got an update. Supposedly balance changes and bug fixes.

Also Ray Tracing is in.
Curious to see that. Not being someone caring about graphic and tech, I am really curious to see if it makes a big difference.

Just saw a image comparison on Reddit and see no difference xD. I have to check it at home.
 

Soodanim

Gold Member
I kind of hated it, personally. In particular the summoners and their ghost archer armies. Even the inclusion of Lapp at the end felt like a throwaway and he was my favorite part of the whole disjointed mess.
I quite liked Lapp's story. Ghost archer enemies got old quicker than the rest, but it's like an environmental puzzle. I was mostly there for the new loot and the odd environmental callback at the close of the overarching story.
 
Done with the Untended Graves, not sure how I managed to first-try Champion Gundyr but here I am. Those Corvians on the way were a huge pain in the ass, maybe more than the Black Knights themselves. I reached the shrine and picked up the item that unlocks the second ending, which is what I'm going for. I was surprised by the change of music when talking to the Firekeeper.

I'm gonna save the Archdragon Peaks for later and focus on Lothric Castle. Wish me luck...
 

Caio

Member
My friends, I have a question to ask you: I'm literally going crazy to find the funereal forging stone 7; I found all from 1 to 6, then 8 and 9, but can't find number 7 ! I have the golden halberd boosted to +6, so I could go to +9.
 

Soodanim

Gold Member
My friends, I have a question to ask you: I'm literally going crazy to find the funereal forging stone 7; I found all from 1 to 6, then 8 and 9, but can't find number 7 ! I have the golden halberd boosted to +6, so I could go to +9.
Somber 7 is a notorious one. You can get 1-6, 8, and 9 before Leyndell but the quickest is after beating 2 Shard Bearers. Under the city in the sewers you can farm them from the hands
Or, if you don't want to beat 2 Shard Bearers first, Volcano Manor has one but it means beating a boss or doing a difficult skip.
 
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Soodanim

Gold Member
Haligtree and those white trumpet pieces of shit suck!


edit: whoever decided to put a Putrid Erdtree Avatar with two Banished Knights that can heal should get Scarlet Rot in their sleep.
The 2 XL trumpet ones hit harder than sole bosses, it's not fun. And you have to farm them for their weapon, so enjoy the run from either bonfire.

That area is awful and I unashamedly cheese it if I don't ignore it forever.
 

DelireMan7

Member
One tapped Malenia lol.

I died so much otw to this boss, this feels rather anticlimactic.
Haha nice one.

Like every boss in Elden Ring, Malenia is extremely hard when you want to solo her (without any summons, spirits and no OP build).
(If you did solo her on first try, well then congrats you're a monster)

But yes the Haligtree and the way to Malenia is such a pain. I kind of love the areas but traversing them is so infuriating xD
 
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killatopak

Gold Member
Haha nice one.

Like every boss in Elden Ring, Malenia is extremely hard when you want to solo her (without any summons, spirits and no OP build).
(If you didn't solo her on first try, well then congrats you're a monster)

But yes the Haligtree and the way to Malenia is such a pain. I kind of love the areas but traversing them is so infuriating xD
I'm not THAT good yet. lol

I did use a spirit ash summon so maybe that tipped it over the edge. Other than that, I basically face tanked her aside from her twirly 10 second sword combo and the scarlet flower bloom.

I had 60 Vigour, Bull Goat set, Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman and my flask that increases damage negation. Basically allowed me whack her without getting staggered too much.

Although I may have been a bit overlevelled since I also had 60 mind and 50 endurance. my damage stats were still just enough to equip Bloodhound Fang and 12 Faith for Flame Cleanse Me.
 

DelireMan7

Member
Holy moly Dragonlord. What a fight!

Great boss! I still haven’t beaten him yet but the journey to the boss fight is kinda long so I’m taking a small break.
Absolute best boss of the game for me. And probably best boss of the entire Soulsborne too.

Love this fight ! I love how the fight transcribe well the power of this dragon.

Helped a friend to beat it yesterday. I can't get tired of this fight. The music, the visuals, the moveset of the boss... Love it !

Yes, the journey is a bit long, especially in Elden Ring with all the Stakes of Marika that bring you just before a boss or usually a Site of Grace just nearby.
 
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DelireMan7

Member
I keep dying to Elden Beast. It’s so pretty. I just stare at the attacks.
Worst boss of the entire Soulsborne "franchise". So annoying. Just give me Torrent FromSoft !
But amazing visuals, lore and music.
Finally beat Elden Ring!!!


Now to devour lore videos so I can understand this game.

Congrats ! But damn I have the feeling you flew through the game. How many hours and over which period of time you beat it ?
 
Worst boss of the entire Soulsborne "franchise". So annoying. Just give me Torrent FromSoft !
But amazing visuals, lore and music.


Congrats ! But damn I have the feeling you flew through the game. How many hours and over which period of time you beat it ?
Foreskin Duo is way worse. I just summon Bernal and mimic for it now while soloing every other boss. Can’t be bothered with it.

Elden Beast is okay once you get it down. Actually quite relaxing in its own way. My heart rate still spikes outside the Duo room.
 

DelireMan7

Member
Foreskin Duo is way worse. I just summon Bernal and mimic for it now while soloing every other boss. Can’t be bothered with it.

Elden Beast is okay once you get it down. Actually quite relaxing in its own way. My heart rate still spikes outside the Duo room.

Yes I get the Godskin duo annoyance. But somehow the fight is well... a fight. Not a game cat and mouse lasting forever. I don't enjoy running constantly in a fight to be out of stamina when I can finally hit the boss.

On my first run my stubbornness made me want to beat Elden Beast with no summon (despite being extremely annoyed by the fight). I didn't eventually after quite some tries just because it decided not to move around this time.

Since then I summon help for it. I am just annoyed me that Radagon is tied to this fight. I usually want to beat him solo (because it's a very enjoyable fight) and then if I die to the beast I summon help.
 
Dark Souls 3 update: I cleared the Lothric castle and Grand Archives. Probably my two favorite levels. Love the sunset sky, the eclipse, and the flying dragon things. Strong end of the world vibes. I shot one of the dragons with arrows until it died. Slow but effective, like with the double tree sentinels in Elden Ring.
The library, cursed books, wax mechanic, and the shortcuts, all of this was really enjoyable. Didn’t bother with three NPCs cause I saw a couple YouTube videos and I don’t think I can beat them all without multiple attempts. I also upgraded the Astora Greatsword to +10. I wonder if there is a greatsword as powerful or more?

The Dragonslayer Armor was hard, it made feel super stressed. But I beat it after a few tries. However, the twin prices make him look easy. Hardest boss so far easily. Even with 15 estus flasks I run out of them. Phase two reminds me a bit of the Elden Beast with the many projectiles coming at me while the boss sweeps with his sword. Very chaotic and stressful. I don’t want to burn through my embers cause I know even harder bosses await…
 

DelireMan7

Member
Dark Souls 3 update: I cleared the Lothric castle and Grand Archives. Probably my two favorite levels. Love the sunset sky, the eclipse, and the flying dragon things. Strong end of the world vibes. I shot one of the dragons with arrows until it died. Slow but effective, like with the double tree sentinels in Elden Ring.
The library, cursed books, wax mechanic, and the shortcuts, all of this was really enjoyable. Didn’t bother with three NPCs cause I saw a couple YouTube videos and I don’t think I can beat them all without multiple attempts. I also upgraded the Astora Greatsword to +10. I wonder if there is a greatsword as powerful or more?

The Dragonslayer Armor was hard, it made feel super stressed. But I beat it after a few tries. However, the twin prices make him look easy. Hardest boss so far easily. Even with 15 estus flasks I run out of them. Phase two reminds me a bit of the Elden Beast with the many projectiles coming at me while the boss sweeps with his sword. Very chaotic and stressful. I don’t want to burn through my embers cause I know even harder bosses await…
Nice to see your progress.

I love the Lothric's princes fight. Music is awesome.

Damn reading all this remind me it's a long time I haven't play Dark Souls 3.
 

killatopak

Gold Member
After some time watching stuff on Youtube and learning a bit more about the world and the motivations of each characters, is any of these connected to Dark Souls?

I only learned it's somewhat of a sequel in an interview with GRRM as he said this is a sequel to Dark Souls.

I have never played any of the Souls games aside from Demon's and that was back on the PS3 and I never did dive into the lore and such.

Just want to have a hook so I can have the motivatation to play the earlier Souls games. Three of them seems like a huge undertaking with DS2 even having somewhat of a negative perception among those that discuss them.
 
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Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
The library, cursed books, wax mechanic, and the shortcuts, all of this was really enjoyable.
Not Funny Reaction GIF by MOODMAN

This was my least favorite section. The mage in the area was so annoying. Now that I understand how it works, I doubt it is so annoying but my first playthrough was pure hell in the section.

Didn’t bother with three NPCs cause I saw a couple YouTube videos and I don’t think I can beat them all without multiple attempts.
Did you run past them? They were tough but not undoable. I wound up kiting them backward and was able to split them up to take 'em out one by one. I think I died 2 or maybe 3 times.
 
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