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[Soodanim]

Okay what's the deal with crafting? I am level 80 and 68 hours in and I ve never crafted once!

I missing anything by not doing it?

It's a good system. At the very least, the ability to craft darts, arrows, bolts and bombs wherever you want gives a lot of freedom. At minimum, keep a full set of bone darts and crystal darts equipped. Bone darts for drawing aggro or hitting things at a distance (high up scarabs, etc) and crystal darts for inflicting frenzy on any holes (most catacombs enemies like imps and watchdogs, as well as giant golems). This isn't ever stated in game so that isn't a spoiler, but it's very useful to know.

Cracked/Ritual pot craftables are great, too. It's handy to keep simple fire bombs on hand, and you get upgraded versions as you progress. There's also see pots, which are especially useful on certain enemies you often see asleep near the flower you use to make them. Giant bears often sleep near St Trina's lillies.

One of the pot items is the oil pot, which is especially useful if you use fire at all.

Bow/crossbow utility should be obvious, instant ammo access including all sorts of status effects.

You eventually get access to a third reusable crafting container: perfumes. They can apply some unique buffs that might just save your life.

All in all, there's so many options for crafting and so many infinite resources to collect that you're throwing away useful tools if you don't try them. You've got nothing to lose. The few rare ingredients are described as such, and I think there's less than 10 really rare ones.

 

[ÆMNE22A!C]

Also. Is there a shortcut fighting those two atlas knights, one with shield and sword and the other with a (lighting) spear..those rolling assholes younhave to evade are annoying af

 

[Fess]

Oh LOL I was wondering where this thread went, banished to Communities huh?!

Yeah it’s a graveyard for talk really, most people never go here, me included. But I have a question. What am I supposed to do after Radahn? I’ve already gone quite far into the map after the great lift but got an advice to do more stuff at the lower level before I explore the capital city or quests will be wiped. What’s the next logical step?

 

[The Rain King]

Yeah it’s a graveyard for talk really, most people never go here, me included. But I have a question. What am I supposed to do after Radahn? I’ve already gone quite far into the map after the great lift but got an advice to do more stuff at the lower level before I explore the capital city or quests will be wiped. What’s the next logical step?

Nokron or Altus Plateau should be good.

 

[Fess]

Nokron or Altus Plateau should be good.

I’ve cleared Nokron and gave the thing to Ranni, so then it’s safe to go explore up the lift?

It’s so hard to keep track of things with no quest log. I failed Irina’s quest worst way possible, apparently she dies if you explore too much without clearing Castle Morne, and then I unknowingly killed Edgar’s summon too since he attacked me when I was just strolling about exploring.

 

[IbizaPocholo]

Elden Ring is one of the greatest games of all time, but there a few small things that bothered us. Here are our complaints.

 

[ValiantTraveler]

^ I can't think of one game where I wasn't bothered by something at some point.

I have a couple questions. I'm level 40 and exploring Liurnia. What's is an approprite level range for Raya Lucaria?

Also is it normal that catacomb/cave bosses are obliterating me? Like the snail tha summons a warrior and the fast guy with a huge sword at the end of the cristal cave. I find it excruciating to make my way all the way through to fight it again. Funnily the more intimidating bosses like the Sentinel Tree and Agheel weren't that hard.

 

[G-DannY]

^ I can't think of one game where I wasn't bothered by something at some point.

I have a couple questions. I'm level 40 and exploring Liurnia. What's is an approprite level range for Raya Lucaria?

Also is it normal that catacomb/cave bosses are obliterating me? Like the snail tha summons a warrior and the fast guy with a huge sword at the end of the cristal cave. I find it excruciating to make my way all the way through to fight it again. Funnily the more intimidating bosses like the Sentinel Tree and Agheel weren't that hard.

Game Progress Route | Elden Ring Wiki

Elden Ring Progression Guide: Where to Go Next, Boss Order, and highlights to find the most important items in the game and not miss out on secrets.

eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com

 

[Rex_DX]

^ I can't think of one game where I wasn't bothered by something at some point.

I have a couple questions. I'm level 40 and exploring Liurnia. What's is an approprite level range for Raya Lucaria?

Also is it normal that catacomb/cave bosses are obliterating me? Like the snail tha summons a warrior and the fast guy with a huge sword at the end of the cristal cave. I find it excruciating to make my way all the way through to fight it again. Funnily the more intimidating bosses like the Sentinel Tree and Agheel weren't that hard.

I think I was around level 45 when I did Raya Lucaria and didn't have any issues. It had a few tough spots but it felt fair.

Not sure about the mini bosses being so hard though. Some are harder than others but it could just be a challenge for your build. What build are you using?

 

[DeaconOfTheDank]

After 220 hours, I've finally gone through everything the game has to offer, including all bosses, catacomb dungeons, NPC side-quests, endings, weapons, talismans, spells, and incantations.

What a game! This will easily go down in my top 5 game experiences of all time. It was a bittersweet moment when I was hit with the realization that a game of this quality is few and far between.

This is a bit ass-backwards considering I loved the game so much, but it gets so many things right that I find it easier to list the things that I think could be improved. With that in mind, here are some criticisms:

• The game is too big for its own good. Don't get me wrong - I absolutely love the scale of the world, but it's clear that later areas like Consecrated Snowfield, Mohgwyn Palace, and Mountaintop of the Giants suffer from the lack of polish and focus present in earlier places like Limgrave, Altus Plateau, and Liurnia of the Lakes. For example, spiritspring pads become a lot less frequent in the former areas. Using that mechanic as a reference, it felt like more thought was put into the level design for earlier areas by way of allowing for more freedom of traversal. While most areas are funneling the player towards specific locations, the linearity of later areas was a bit too on-the-nose. There's quite a bit more to this point, but I'll touch on those in later criticisms.
• Enemy variety is lacking in late-game and feels like a product of rushed development. Mountaintop of the Giants was practically Caelid 2.0 and I'm honestly just not a fan of huge enemies. And where are the Kaiden mercenaries that you fight all the way back in Limgrave? They're apparently from the Mountaintops of Giants so I was pretty surprised to see neither head nor tail of them in the region. The saving grace were the fire monks, but I had already fought quite a few in Volcano Manor and the Divine Tower of Caelid that their novelty had been lost on me at this point. The catacomb dungeons are the biggest offender of this with repeated use of the stone gargoyles.
• Way too many mini-dungeons and repeated level structure. They could have cut the number of catacomb dungeons in half and the problem wouldn't feel as prominent. Additionally, with less catacomb dungeons the developers could rely less on procedural generation ala the Chalice Dungeon system and lean more on hand-crafted levels. There was one cave in Limgrave, Highroad Cave, that I feel gave a glimpse of the intended vision of these mini-dungeons. For the sake of completion, I cleared out every single mini-dungeon, but it was a shame that their was such repetition and basic level layout for the majority. My brain would practically go on auto-pilot as I was working through these.
• Balancing of enemy design is fucked. Previous titles had a more linear gameplay structure so balancing was nowhere near as complex as Elden Ring. That being said, I feel like there's a been a slow transition to hyper aggressive enemies with limitless poise and long-winded combos without any of the player agency present in a title like Bloodborne or Sekiro. I played with dual greatswords and had dual katanas as my backup, but I had to use the later + Bloodhound Step near the end because the slow move-sets of greatswords would get my killed unless I played extremely defensively... which isn't exactly my idea of fun. For example, Maliketh, Malenia, and Radagon felt impossible unless I could utilize the speed of movement afforded to me by the dual katana build. My character was focused on dexterity + intelligence, but even magic felt like cruel joke to use outside of a couple of quick-casting spells unless I wanted to spend my time running away from bosses. I understand that a lot of moves are very situational, but when your character is encouraged to only using one or two attacks for the majority of fights to even stand a chance then you know you have a balancing problem. I'm also not a fan of mob bosses - it feels like a cheap way to ramp up difficulty and was my main issue with DS2. Whenever I would face more than one boss at time (e.g. Godskin Duo) I would immediately resort to summons to level the playing field a bit.
• NPC side-quests and, by extension, the narrative structure don't really fit well for the open-world format. This one has already been beat to death by others so I won't go into it too much. I'll go for tens of hours without meeting a single NPC, much less one that I've met before and I always have a hard time remembering what our past interactions entailed. I think having something as simple as a journal for the player to keep track of interactions with NPCs would go a long way in resolving a lot of the issues I have with this one.
• Gameplay is king, but there should be more engagement with the open-world beyond just killing enemies. This isn't an immersive sim like the Witcher 3 or Red Dead Redemption 2, but sometimes I wish there were a couple of relaxing activities to partake in just to take a break from the constant onslaught of enemies. For example, making using of something like the sake mechanic in Sekiro in order to explore character backstories would have been extremely welcome. Additionally, I know that FromSoftware has shied away from having lively towns in their games, but having something like multiple small hubs in the open world where NPCs gather to interact with the player would have been an easy supplement for a township.
• Graphics tech is far behind the curve. I've been playing Souls games since DS1 so I know their strength lies in art direction, but there are a couple of missed opportunities that could have really elevated the presentation for a few areas. Mountaintop of the Giants and Consecrated Snowfield in particular would have benefited greatly from snow deformation tech and brought an aspect of dynamism to an otherwise lifeless terrain. On another note, how is it that FromSoftware can build such beautiful worlds and still not include a photo mode??

Whew. That may seem like a lot of criticism, but those are just the aspects that I believe FromSoftware should address to elevate future entries beyond their already monumental standing. I might make a future post discussing the things I loved most about the game (world building, atmosphere, art direction, combat, open-world design, etc.), but I want to let the experience of the game marinate a bit before I hone in on what I think its top qualities are.

Favorite bosses:

• Radagon - His move-set is incredibly fun to learn and the title theme blasting in the background made this my favorite fight in the game. Dodging and weaving through all of the swings of the hammer and trading blows felt anime as fuck! Leading into the absolute spectacle of the Elden Beast left me in awe after felling it. I understand that a lot of people hate this boss, but Elden Beast's attack patterns are simple enough to learn that I don't really have any other advice to give other than git gud.
• Malenia - Once you have the pattern down, the fight turns into a duel of the utmost intensity. Malenia's lack of poise really helps the fight feel like a fight to the death between two extremely skilled warriors, with the player being the other. Waterfowl Dance is absolutely bullshit though, so I had to abuse Bloodhound Step to avoid it consistently. She's definitely a Sekiro boss (my money is on lost Tomoe DLC) in a Souls game and the absolute perfection required by the player to hold their ground in the fight pushed me to limits I hadn't encountered since fighting Sword Saint Isshin. There is very little room for error, especially with how hard her attacks hit and the ability to heal every time she lands a blow. Considering this is an optional boss, this felt like the ultimate test of ability.
• Morgott - For myself and many others, Margit was the first true wall in the game. The revelation that our bitter rival is the true king of Leyndell was a poetic moment and his tragic backstory was the cherry on top. Couple that with bombastic yet somber orchestral track in the background and you had the makings of truly memorable boss fight. To take things to a new level, the player is hit with the knowledge that Margit was just a projection and a far cry from his true power!

Favorite OST:

• The Final Battle
• Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon
• Morgott, The Omen King
• Mohg, Lord of Blood

 

[ValiantTraveler]

I think I was around level 45 when I did Raya Lucaria and didn't have any issues. It had a few tough spots but it felt fair.

Not sure about the mini bosses being so hard though. Some are harder than others but it could just be a challenge for your build. What build are you using?

Vagabond, focusing on vitality, endurance, and strength. I tend to panic roll when fighting a fast enemy that hits hard. Margit and Godrick, as much as they are infamous for being hard, give you a bit of time to recover and ready yourself for the next attack. There is a cave boss in Liurnia, I forget his name, who keeps swinging his huge blade and jumping. He makes short work of my summon. And it’s a pain rushing through the cave every time I want to fight him.

 

[The artful mincer]

After 220 hours, I've finally gone through everything the game has to offer, including all bosses, catacomb dungeons, NPC side-quests, endings, weapons, talismans, spells, and incantations.

What a game! This will easily go down in my top 5 game experiences of all time. It was a bittersweet moment when I was hit with the realization that a game of this quality is few and far between.

This is a bit ass-backwards considering I loved the game so much, but it gets so many things right that I find it easier to list the things that I think could be improved. With that in mind, here are some criticisms:

• The game is too big for its own good. Don't get me wrong - I absolutely love the scale of the world, but it's clear that later areas like Consecrated Snowfield, Mohgwyn Palace, and Mountaintop of the Giants suffer from the lack of polish and focus present in earlier places like Limgrave, Altus Plateau, and Liurnia of the Lakes. For example, spiritspring pads become a lot less frequent in the former areas. Using that mechanic as a reference, it felt like more thought was put into the level design for earlier areas by way of allowing for more freedom of traversal. While most areas are funneling the player towards specific locations, the linearity of later areas was a bit too on-the-nose. There's quite a bit more to this point, but I'll touch on those in later criticisms.
• Enemy variety is lacking in late-game and feels like a product of rushed development. Mountaintop of the Giants was practically Caelid 2.0 and I'm honestly just not a huge fan of huge enemies. And where are the Kaiden mercenaries that you fight all the way back in Limgrave? They're apparently from the Mountaintops of Giant so I was pretty surprised to see neither head nor tail of them in the region. The saving grace were the fire monks, but I had already fought quite a few in Volcano Manor and the Divine Tower of Caelid that their novelty had been lost on me at this point. The catacomb dungeons are the biggest offender of this with repeated use of the stone gargoyles,
• Way too many mini-dungeons and repeated level structure. They could have cut the number of catacomb dungeons in half and the problem wouldn't feel as prominent. Additionally, with less catacomb dungeons, the developers could rely less on procedural generation ala the Chalice Dungeon system and lean more on hand-crafted levels. There was one cave in Limgrave, Highroad Cave, that I feel gave a glimpse of the intended vision of these mini-dungeons. For the sake of completion, I cleared out every single mini-dungeon, but it was a shame that their was such repetition and basic level layout for the majority. My brain would practically go on auto-pilot as I was working through these.
• Balancing of enemy design is fucked. Previous titles had a more linear gameplay structure so balancing was nowhere near as complex as Elden Ring. That being said, I feel like there's a been a slow transition to hyper aggressive enemies with limitless poise and long-winded combos without any of the player agency present in a title like Bloodborne or Sekiro. I played with dual greatswords and had dual katanas as my backup, but I had to use the later + Bloodhound Step near the end because the slow move-sets of greatswords would get my killed unless I played extremely defensively which isn't exactly my idea of fun. For example, Maliketh, Malenia, and Radagon felt impossible unless I could utilize the speed of movement afforded to me by the dual katana build. My character was focused on dexterity + intelligence, but even magic felt like cruel joke to use outside of a couple of quick-casting spells unless I wanted to spend my time running away from bosses. I understand that a lot of moves are very situational, but when your character is encouraged to only using one or two attacks for the majority of fights to even stand a chance then you know you have a balancing problem. I'm also not a fan of mob bosses - it feels like a cheap way to ramp up difficulty and was my main issue with DS2. Whenever I would face more than one boss at time (Godskin Duo) I would immediately resort to summons to level the playing field a bit.
• NPC side-quests and, by extension, the narrative structure don't really fit well for the open-world format. This one has already been beat to death by others so I won't go into it too much. I'll go for tens of hours without meeting a single NPC, much less one that I've met before and I always have a hard time remembering what our past interactions entailed. I think having something as simple as a journal for the player to keep track of interactions with NPCs would go a long way in resolving a lot of the issues I have with this one.
• Gameplay is king, but there should be more interactions with the open-world beyond just killing enemies. This isn't an immersive sim like the Witcher 3 or Red Dead Redemption 2, but sometimes I wish there were a couple of relaxing activities to engage in just to take a break from the constant onslaught of enemies. For example, making using of something like the sake mechanic in Sekiro in order to explore character backstories would have been extremely welcome. Additionally, I know that FromSoftware has shied away from having lively towns in their games, but having something like multiple small hubs in the open world where NPCs gather to interact with the player would have been an easy supplement for a township.
• Graphics tech is far behind the curve. I've been playing Souls games since DS1 so I know their strength lies in art direction, but there are a couple of missed opportunities that could have really elevated the presentation for a few areas. Mountaintop of the Giants and Consecrated Snowfield in particular would have benefited greatly from snow deformation tech and brought an aspect of dynamism to an otherwise lifeless terrain. On another note, how is it that FromSoftware can build such beautiful worlds and still not include a photo mode??

Whew. That may seem like a lot of criticism, but those are just the aspects that I believe FromSoftware should address to elevate future entries beyond their already monumental standing. I might make a future post discussing the things I loved most about the game (world building, atmosphere, art direction, combat, open-world design, etc.), but I want to let the experience of the game marinate a bit before I hone in on what I think its top qualities are.

Favorite bosses:

• Radagon - His move-set is incredibly fun to learn and the title theme blasting in the background made this my favorite fight in the game. Dodging and weaving through all of the swings of the hammer and trading blows felt anime as fuck! Leading into the absolute spectacle of the Elden Beast left me in awe after felling it. I understand that a lot of people hate this boss, but Elden Beast's attack patterns are simple enough to learn that I don't really have any other advice to give other than git gud
• Malenia - Once you have the pattern down, the fight turns into a duel of the utmost intensity. Malenia's lack of poise really helps the fight feel like a fight to the death between two extremely skilled warriors, with the player being the other. Waterfowl Dance is absolutely bullshit though, so I had to abuse Bloodhound Step to avoid it consistently. She's definitely a Sekiro boss (my money is on lost Tomoe DLC) in a Souls game and the absolute perfection required by the player to hold their ground in the fight pushed me to limits I hadn't encountered since fighting Sword Saint Isshin. There is very little room for error, especially with how hard her attacks hit and the ability to heal every time she lands a blow. Considering this is an optional boss, this felt like the ultimate test of ability.
• Morgott - For myself and many others, Margit was the first true wall in the game. The revelation that our bitter rival is the true king of Leyndell was a poetic moment and his tragic backstory was the cherry on top. Couple that with bombastic yet somber orchestral track in the background and you had the makings of truly memorable boss fight. To take things to a new level, the player is hit with the knowledge that Margit was just a projection and a far cry from his true power!

Favorite OST:

• The Final Battle
• Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon
• Morgott, The Omen King
• Mohg, Lord of Blood

Great Post! Important that we grill the things we love!

 

[The artful mincer]

Okay done lots of shit. Done a good chunk of the Caelid region, raya lucaria academy, a bit of the atlus plateau and reached volcano Manor while doing a bunch of stuff along the way. Done a couple of the secondary dungeons as well. Faith build level 90 with 75 hours playtime.

If this game can be somed up in one quote from a film or book its this.

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."

And it's awesome! Highlights have been going underground (again) to the ant colony reminded me of being shrunk in Medievil. Going to the end of liurnia of lakes seamlessly flowing into a dungeon then finding myself on Atlus plateau and finally accidentally finding the correct route to Volcano Manor.(Must of sucked for those who went the way the map suggests lol!!)

My earlier point about it feeling like a massive wide linear game or a traditional from software game but on a massive scale (with a horse) is more and more apparent. There's often only one or 2 routes to get to a specific location. On that route there will be plenty of distractions and challenges to overcome I.e dangerous terrain, enemies, bosses, caves etc but still fundamentally your on linear path. You can go off in another direction and some of the areas are really wide like the liurnia of lakes. However you will soon find yourself funnelled back in on a linear path.

This is such a superior way to design your open world than a go anywhere anytime open world like Just cause or even GTA5. I am finding myself engaging far more with the landscape and world e.g. looking for ladders, which ledges to jump off, which enemies to engage and which to avoid. Its so good! All this would be lost if I could just climb anywhere or jump on a flying mount.

Combat wise its great traditional dark souls stuff (Although I still need do a comparison with nioh 2 about where it's lacking). Playing as a faith build has resulted in a lot more tactics and gameplay variety. Ashes of war, charge attacks and shield counters are all great additions. It's great that these abilities allow more ways to create critical hits as I've never felt parrying has been worth learning. Some of the long range magic attacks like lighting spear are definitely OP but it's allowed me to punch above my weight against boss fights so I feel its enhanced the exploration. Not every game needs every ability perfectly balanced especially a game about exploration and discovery.

Boss fight highlights have god skin Apostle ,Rennala and cheesing the gargoyle in front of deathroot dude at level 40! More on enemy design and bosses another time. I am pretty sure I'am gonna fight the infamous Radahn soon faith build level 90 okay to take him?

Fromsoft bullshit of the week. Why are some magic abilities that have high level requirements and require 2 slots average or rubbish?

Why is there just a singular really hard enemy between the godskin Apostle and a
Site of grace. Seriously who would waste time fighting this douche every time you die at the boss. Why is my fucking summon trying to fight this douche through the boss fog and not the Godskin Apostle!!!???

Seriously overall its absolutely incredible top 5 of all time. I no longer care for bloodborne 2 now as I ve no idea how there gonna top this. ( If bloodborne 2 is ever annouced obviously I will play the shit out of it)

 

[MHubert]

Ok so I finally finished the game - late to the party, I guess, but better late than never. Here are some thoughts:

I didnt look up any guides so I am new to this thread, but I have participated a little in discussions here and there. I finished it in about 170 hours and ended up at level 152, so I took my sweet ass time. Spend most of my time exploring the map enjoying the beautiful world and avoided doing the mainline quest until I felt satuated from exploration - no rush.

First off, the game is very easy compared to the rest of the souls games. I guess this is on purpose in order to make the game more accessible, which is fine I guess, since my main source of enjoyment came from the feeling of being on a grand adventure. I started as Samurai and mainly invested in the starting Uchigatana with a blood focus, with the Bloodhounds Fang on the side if I needed to stagger the opponents. A reasonable combo I think. I didnt have trouble with any of the bosses or areas, except for the Crucible Knight and Misbegotten Warrior duo (lol), for whom I was severely underleved at the time but insisted on doing anyway since I was stubborn: Imagine my dissapointment finding out that it might be the most useless optional boss battle in the game after defeating them.
Then later in the game I found Rivers of Blood and the challenge ended for me there, since it basically became press L2 The Experience, with a few dodges sprinkled on top here and there. I had heard rumours that the endgame had a steep difficulty climb, but I experienced non of that since I took every boss from Mountaintops of the Giants and onwards in the first try. Miquellas Haligtree, Consecrated Snowfield, Mohgwyns Palace and Crumbling Farum Azula made me feel like a janitor doing a bit of cleaning up.

I felt that the game lost a bit of breath in the later areas as the level design and attention to detail became a bit predictable, and the challenges also became a bit cheap. But well, the art direction was still cool so I still had a good time.

I often hear the critique that the game feels like a DS4 but with an empty open world padded between legacy dungeons - a critique i disagree with, since I feel the game should be judged on the merit of being an open world game, and not a wide linear experience like the previous games. As an open world game, it excells in almost every aspect compared to the competition.

All in all I have had an amazing time and I very much look forward to the future expansions and a potential sequel.

 

[The artful mincer]

I'am really enjoying the summon system. Which are some fun or interesting ones to use? I know the mimic tear is OP any others that are good?

 

[Rex_DX]

I'am really enjoying the summon system. Which are some fun or interesting ones to use? I know the mimic tear is OP any others that are good?

I've only summoned a couple of times. I'm playing a faith-based melee build and Latenna has been super useful as a support sniper. She's a great addition to a melee player. Got me through the Caelid Godskin Apostle when I was only level 59. Couldn't have done it without her.

I'd also like to know others' suggestions. I've got all these upgrade mats and would like to upgrade a melee summon too. I'm not super crazy about the whole system but it's a part of the game so why not ...

 

[DelireMan7]

I have ONE BIG complaint; Why does every NPC that you meet have to die, I miss the connection.

After 220 hours, I've finally gone through everything the game has to offer, including all bosses, catacomb dungeons, NPC side-quests, endings, weapons, talismans, spells, and incantations.

What a game! This will easily go down in my top 5 game experiences of all time. It was a bittersweet moment when I was hit with the realization that a game of this quality is few and far between.

This is a bit ass-backwards considering I loved the game so much, but it gets so many things right that I find it easier to list the things that I think could be improved. With that in mind, here are some criticisms:

• The game is too big for its own good. Don't get me wrong - I absolutely love the scale of the world, but it's clear that later areas like Consecrated Snowfield, Mohgwyn Palace, and Mountaintop of the Giants suffer from the lack of polish and focus present in earlier places like Limgrave, Altus Plateau, and Liurnia of the Lakes. For example, spiritspring pads become a lot less frequent in the former areas. Using that mechanic as a reference, it felt like more thought was put into the level design for earlier areas by way of allowing for more freedom of traversal. While most areas are funneling the player towards specific locations, the linearity of later areas was a bit too on-the-nose. There's quite a bit more to this point, but I'll touch on those in later criticisms.
• Enemy variety is lacking in late-game and feels like a product of rushed development. Mountaintop of the Giants was practically Caelid 2.0 and I'm honestly just not a huge fan of huge enemies. And where are the Kaiden mercenaries that you fight all the way back in Limgrave? They're apparently from the Mountaintops of Giant so I was pretty surprised to see neither head nor tail of them in the region. The saving grace were the fire monks, but I had already fought quite a few in Volcano Manor and the Divine Tower of Caelid that their novelty had been lost on me at this point. The catacomb dungeons are the biggest offender of this with repeated use of the stone gargoyles,
• Way too many mini-dungeons and repeated level structure. They could have cut the number of catacomb dungeons in half and the problem wouldn't feel as prominent. Additionally, with less catacomb dungeons, the developers could rely less on procedural generation ala the Chalice Dungeon system and lean more on hand-crafted levels. There was one cave in Limgrave, Highroad Cave, that I feel gave a glimpse of the intended vision of these mini-dungeons. For the sake of completion, I cleared out every single mini-dungeon, but it was a shame that their was such repetition and basic level layout for the majority. My brain would practically go on auto-pilot as I was working through these.
• Balancing of enemy design is fucked. Previous titles had a more linear gameplay structure so balancing was nowhere near as complex as Elden Ring. That being said, I feel like there's a been a slow transition to hyper aggressive enemies with limitless poise and long-winded combos without any of the player agency present in a title like Bloodborne or Sekiro. I played with dual greatswords and had dual katanas as my backup, but I had to use the later + Bloodhound Step near the end because the slow move-sets of greatswords would get my killed unless I played extremely defensively which isn't exactly my idea of fun. For example, Maliketh, Malenia, and Radagon felt impossible unless I could utilize the speed of movement afforded to me by the dual katana build. My character was focused on dexterity + intelligence, but even magic felt like cruel joke to use outside of a couple of quick-casting spells unless I wanted to spend my time running away from bosses. I understand that a lot of moves are very situational, but when your character is encouraged to only using one or two attacks for the majority of fights to even stand a chance then you know you have a balancing problem. I'm also not a fan of mob bosses - it feels like a cheap way to ramp up difficulty and was my main issue with DS2. Whenever I would face more than one boss at time (Godskin Duo) I would immediately resort to summons to level the playing field a bit.
• NPC side-quests and, by extension, the narrative structure don't really fit well for the open-world format. This one has already been beat to death by others so I won't go into it too much. I'll go for tens of hours without meeting a single NPC, much less one that I've met before and I always have a hard time remembering what our past interactions entailed. I think having something as simple as a journal for the player to keep track of interactions with NPCs would go a long way in resolving a lot of the issues I have with this one.
• Gameplay is king, but there should be more interactions with the open-world beyond just killing enemies. This isn't an immersive sim like the Witcher 3 or Red Dead Redemption 2, but sometimes I wish there were a couple of relaxing activities to engage in just to take a break from the constant onslaught of enemies. For example, making using of something like the sake mechanic in Sekiro in order to explore character backstories would have been extremely welcome. Additionally, I know that FromSoftware has shied away from having lively towns in their games, but having something like multiple small hubs in the open world where NPCs gather to interact with the player would have been an easy supplement for a township.
• Graphics tech is far behind the curve. I've been playing Souls games since DS1 so I know their strength lies in art direction, but there are a couple of missed opportunities that could have really elevated the presentation for a few areas. Mountaintop of the Giants and Consecrated Snowfield in particular would have benefited greatly from snow deformation tech and brought an aspect of dynamism to an otherwise lifeless terrain. On another note, how is it that FromSoftware can build such beautiful worlds and still not include a photo mode??

Whew. That may seem like a lot of criticism, but those are just the aspects that I believe FromSoftware should address to elevate future entries beyond their already monumental standing. I might make a future post discussing the things I loved most about the game (world building, atmosphere, art direction, combat, open-world design, etc.), but I want to let the experience of the game marinate a bit before I hone in on what I think its top qualities are.

Favorite bosses:

• Radagon - His move-set is incredibly fun to learn and the title theme blasting in the background made this my favorite fight in the game. Dodging and weaving through all of the swings of the hammer and trading blows felt anime as fuck! Leading into the absolute spectacle of the Elden Beast left me in awe after felling it. I understand that a lot of people hate this boss, but Elden Beast's attack patterns are simple enough to learn that I don't really have any other advice to give other than git gud
• Malenia - Once you have the pattern down, the fight turns into a duel of the utmost intensity. Malenia's lack of poise really helps the fight feel like a fight to the death between two extremely skilled warriors, with the player being the other. Waterfowl Dance is absolutely bullshit though, so I had to abuse Bloodhound Step to avoid it consistently. She's definitely a Sekiro boss (my money is on lost Tomoe DLC) in a Souls game and the absolute perfection required by the player to hold their ground in the fight pushed me to limits I hadn't encountered since fighting Sword Saint Isshin. There is very little room for error, especially with how hard her attacks hit and the ability to heal every time she lands a blow. Considering this is an optional boss, this felt like the ultimate test of ability.
• Morgott - For myself and many others, Margit was the first true wall in the game. The revelation that our bitter rival is the true king of Leyndell was a poetic moment and his tragic backstory was the cherry on top. Couple that with bombastic yet somber orchestral track in the background and you had the makings of truly memorable boss fight. To take things to a new level, the player is hit with the knowledge that Margit was just a projection and a far cry from his true power!

Favorite OST:

• The Final Battle
• Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon
• Morgott, The Omen King
• Mohg, Lord of Blood

What a magnificent post. Fair criticisms and I agree with lot of them. Especially the late game area lack of polish.

Limgrave and Liurnia feel so good to explore. The magic is not as strong in the late game areas.

The NPCs sidequest with long gap of not seeing them is also something that disturbed me. I'll focus on specific quest on future playthrough to avoid these huge time gap.

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

So I’ve noticed something weird, mind you I’m just level 21.

Since it’s an open world I’ve been exploring a lot and found all the maps I have available.

And Limgrave seems surrounded by sea. Also, when I found the last one the map got way bigger but it’s all sea - I find weird so many empty space so I suspect there’s more but how and when all this empty sea will become “usable” I can’t even imagine.

 

[The artful mincer]

So I’ve noticed something weird, mind you I’m just level 21.

Since it’s an open world I’ve been exploring a lot and found all the maps I have available.

And Limgrave seems surrounded by sea. Also, when I found the last one the map got way bigger but it’s all sea - I find weird so many empty space so I suspect there’s more but how and when all this empty sea will become “usable” I can’t even imagine.

Do you mean the fog that's dark grey? That stays like that until you find a map fragment. If you dont have a map fragment and explore a new area locations will be marked on the fog. E.g. sites of graces

The actual sea is blue on the map

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

Do you mean the fog that's dark grey? That stays like that until you find a map fragment. If you dont have a map fragment and explore a new area locations will be marked on the fog. E.g. sites of graces

The actual sea is blue on the map

no...

Anyways.

 

[OsirisBlack]

Have they said anything else about adding ray tracing to the game?

 

[The artful mincer]

no...

Anyways.

Oh okay well west and south limgrave is surrounded by sea. East leads to another region. A little bit of north has coast but then leads onto another new region.

The island is weird shape I guess but rest assured the map is huge. I think they use the sea among other things likes cliffs, bridges and valleys to nudge the player to tackle regions in a certain order.

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

Oh okay well west and south limgrave is surrounded by sea. East leads to another region. A little bit of north has coast but then leads onto another new region.

The island is weird shape I guess but rest assured the map is huge. I think they use the sea among other things likes cliffs, bridges and valleys to nudge the player to tackle regions in a certain order.

I just realized - yesterday I was exploring and found a hidden “back door” into another region and a chunk of sea is now instead dark grey, indicating an explorable landmass.

Tricky tricky.

 

[Rex_DX]

Have they said anything else about adding ray tracing to the game?

Not in a long time but it's supposedly still coming. Seems like they're going full-bore on restoring the DS servers to working order right now though so it'll probably be a while.

Personally I'm on a 3090 and had to drop down to 1440p to get 60FPS so raytracing, while pretty fucking cool, will probably remain off unless some heavy optimizations happen.

The game can be breathtaking at times, and the art direction is ace. But I see no reason Elden Ring should max out a 3090 without raytracing.

 

[The artful mincer]

I just realized - yesterday I was exploring and found a hidden “back door” into another region and a chunk of sea is now instead dark grey, indicating an explorable landmass.

Tricky tricky.

Yeah if your okay to slight spoiled I could describe the shape of the land mass?

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

Yeah if your okay to slight spoiled I could describe the shape of the land mass?

It’s alright I was just worried that the game was “just that” but from is playing tricks as usual

 

[ÆMNE22A!C]

Today is the day.

 

[The artful mincer]

It’s alright I was just worried that the game was “just that” but from is playing tricks as usual

Lol one thing you don't have to worry about is the size of this game!

I think it's the biggest single player game I ve ever played. Only game comparable I've played is dragon quest 12.

 

[Soodanim]

Kicking myself for not having done it sooner, but I've finally added various mods to the game and the game looks and feels so much better for it.

Conveniently, this Nexus Mod Collection has them all. Easy if you use Vortex, but can just as easily be used without:

Performance and QoL Improvements | Elden Ring | Nexus Mods

Includes several mods to make your experience with Elden Ring just a littlebit nicer, so long as you don't care about the multiplayer aspects of the game.

next.nexusmods.com

SpecialK for frame pacing: https://wiki.special-k.info/
For this one I used a suggestion I saw on Reddit, which was to open up the ini and change GameOutput=true to false. Does something to core utilisation, or something like that. YMMV, but it worked wonders on my i5 4690k/1660ti/16GB DDR3 system, others have more luck with DXVK or VKD3D which make the game run in Vulkan instead of DirectX12. I still only get 35-45fps most of the time, but it's a MUCH smoother experience. No unnecessary stutters.

Smoother gameplay, better visuals, no annoying/blinding logo screens. You don't have to adjust the FOV, but it lets you appreciate the world a little bit more and helps for larger enemies. Be aware that the FOV isn't like other games - it uses vertical instead of horizontal. 60 in this means 91 in any other game.

I probably only have one more run in me before I quit until DLC lands, but I'm going to enjoy it that much more with these installed.

 

[Rex_DX]

Kicking myself for not having done it sooner, but I've finally added various mods to the game and the game looks and feels so much better for it.

Conveniently, this Nexus Mod Collection has them all. Easy if you use Vortex, but can just as easily be used without:

Performance and QoL Improvements | Elden Ring | Nexus Mods

Includes several mods to make your experience with Elden Ring just a littlebit nicer, so long as you don't care about the multiplayer aspects of the game.

next.nexusmods.com

SpecialK for frame pacing: https://wiki.special-k.info/
For this one I used a suggestion I saw on Reddit, which was to open up the ini and change GameOutput=true to false. Does something to core utilisation, or something like that. YMMV, but it worked wonders on my i5 4690k/1660ti/16GB DDR3 system, others have more luck with DXVK or VKD3D which make the game run in Vulkan instead of DirectX12. I still only get 35-45fps most of the time, but it's a MUCH smoother experience. No unnecessary stutters.

Smoother gameplay, better visuals, no annoying/blinding logo screens. You don't have to adjust the FOV, but it lets you appreciate the world a little bit more and helps for larger enemies. Be aware that the FOV isn't like other games - it uses vertical instead of horizontal. 60 in this means 91 in any other game.

I probably only have one more run in me before I quit until DLC lands, but I'm going to enjoy it that much more with these installed.

I assume you're playing offline right?

 

[Soodanim]

I assume you're playing offline right?

Yeah, part of the mod collection is an EAC remover and offline toggle.

Even before mods I wasn't playing online, I only ever invaded 3 times for the NPC quest and I've never summoned or been summoned, because I disconnected too often to want to. I was offline for so long it really makes no difference to me in that regard

 

[DeaconOfTheDank]

Kicking myself for not having done it sooner, but I've finally added various mods to the game and the game looks and feels so much better for it.

Conveniently, this Nexus Mod Collection has them all. Easy if you use Vortex, but can just as easily be used without:

Performance and QoL Improvements | Elden Ring | Nexus Mods

Includes several mods to make your experience with Elden Ring just a littlebit nicer, so long as you don't care about the multiplayer aspects of the game.

next.nexusmods.com

SpecialK for frame pacing: https://wiki.special-k.info/
For this one I used a suggestion I saw on Reddit, which was to open up the ini and change GameOutput=true to false. Does something to core utilisation, or something like that. YMMV, but it worked wonders on my i5 4690k/1660ti/16GB DDR3 system, others have more luck with DXVK or VKD3D which make the game run in Vulkan instead of DirectX12. I still only get 35-45fps most of the time, but it's a MUCH smoother experience. No unnecessary stutters.

Smoother gameplay, better visuals, no annoying/blinding logo screens. You don't have to adjust the FOV, but it lets you appreciate the world a little bit more and helps for larger enemies. Be aware that the FOV isn't like other games - it uses vertical instead of horizontal. 60 in this means 91 in any other game.

I probably only have one more run in me before I quit until DLC lands, but I'm going to enjoy it that much more with these installed.

I'm holding off on starting a new playthrough till the raytracing patch drops, but I definitely plan on using a couple of mods to enhance the experience. Specifically, I want to remove the compass, disable chromatic aberration, increase shadow map distance, and grass rendering distance. I was one of the lucky few who had excellent performance of practically locked 60fps with max settings at 4K + HDR. Granted, my machine is a bit of beast (i5 9600k + 2080Ti + 32GB of RAM + NVMe SSD), but another user with a better PC build was having a worse time.

 

[Soodanim]

I'm holding off on starting a new playthrough till the raytracing patch drops, but I definitely plan on using a couple of mods to enhance the experience. Specifically, I want to remove the compass, disable chromatic aberration, increase shadow map distance, and grass rendering distance. I was one of the lucky few who had excellent performance of practically locked 60fps with max settings at 4K + HDR. Granted, my machine is a bit of beast (i5 9600k + 2080Ti + 32GB of RAM + NVMe SSD), but another user with a better PC build was having a worse time.

With them taking their sweet time, maybe we are due for a big patch. Where more than just RT gets added. I won't be able to take advantage of that, but I might hold off anyway in case there's other improvements.

I saw mention somewhere of an update to co-op coming, but I don't know if that's from a source or just someone's wishful thinking based on the true co-op mod.

Maybe some of the time it's taking is because they're also trying to sort online for Dark Souls 1-3 at the same time

 

[ÆMNE22A!C]

Today is the day.

I'm such a fucknut I've already visited that bridge with the salesman and the portal I needed. So yeah, ... Well, progress in any case.

 

[ÆMNE22A!C]

Maybe I'll try J jaysius Build and go Strength Faith and see were to put the leftovers. Love buffing and heavy weapons.


Lvl100 now. Can always respect at 150/60


Moonlight Veil is *cheffskiss btw

 

[The artful mincer]

So beat radahn and rykard cleared all the main regions up to the capital.(No doubt I ve missed tons but you get the idea.

Radahn and Rykard(And I thought Godrick was a bit of weirdo) were both great boss fights with unique twists to them. Had no trouble with Radahn as I was happy to summon my npc bros to help. The fact you can summon about 10 npcs gave him a real aura. It's shame he's a bit easy if you do this I feel they should make him much harder so you HAVE to summon burt I guess they need to balance it for the obsessive nutters that must beat the boss solo"

It was super fun beating the shit out of Rykard with the super weapon and my mimic tear. It became a real spectacle with us both slamming on him! Is it possible to beat him without the serpent hunter spear or whatever its called?

Fully upgraded the mimic tear and don't regret it! It's honestly been pretty fun summoning him and beating the shit out of bosses first try. I've solo'd all previous souls game and I just don't feel the need this time. This game is long enough as it is I don't want to spend hours hammering away memorising a boss attack patterns.

I've heard people complain that the bosses aren't balanced properly. Firstly I don't care secondly give me a break!

This id souls combat we're talking about. It's always been super fun.BUT Its also always been super janky, it's always been been buggy and it sure as fuck has never been balanced. There has always been exploits or some uber weapon to tip the balance way in your favour.

These games have always been about discovery first and foremost I want to find overpowered shit.Fuck balance! There are more polished and refined combat games out there if you want them.

Volcano Manor and Mt gelmir has been my favourite region and dungeon so far. Loved the climb up to it and the dungeon was super cool with a great boss fight. The atlus pleteau and the capital might top it through... I am only at the outskirts but Jesus Christ it's the most breathtaking videogame environment ever! It's looks like Minas Tirith! Next would be limgrave and the underground joint, then caelid then liurnia of lakes. Caelid and liurnia are both good but but a bit too open and lack the structure of the other regions. Low point has been Lake of the Rot god that placd was tedious. I've enjoyed the posion swap areas in the past but this is taken to far. You lose heath way too quickly and recover way to slowly.

How long have I got left? I know there's a whole other region after the capital.

 

[G-DannY]

So beat radahn and rykard cleared all the main regions up to the capital.(No doubt I ve missed tons but you get the idea.

Radahn and Rykard(And I thought Godrick was a bit of weirdo) were both great boss fights with unique twists to them. Had no trouble with Radahn as I was happy to summon my npc bros to help. The fact you can summon about 10 npcs gave him a real aura. It's shame he's a bit easy if you do this I feel they should make him much harder so you HAVE to summon burt I guess they need to balance it for the obsessive nutters that must beat the boss solo"

It was super fun beating the shit out of Rykard with the super weapon and my mimic tear. It became a real spectacle with us both slamming on him! Is it possible to beat him without the serpent hunter spear or whatever its called?

Fully upgraded the mimic tear and don't regret it! It's honestly been pretty fun summoning him and beating the shit out of bosses first try. I've solo'd all previous souls game and I just don't feel the need this time. This game is long enough as it is I don't want to spend hours hammering away memorising a boss attack patterns.

I've heard people complain that the bosses aren't balanced properly. Firstly I don't care secondly give me a break!

This id souls combat we're talking about. It's always been super fun.BUT Its also always been super janky, it's always been been buggy and it sure as fuck has never been balanced. There has always been exploits or some uber weapon to tip the balance way in your favour.

These games have always been about discovery first and foremost I want to find overpowered shit.Fuck balance! There are more polished and refined combat games out there if you want them.

Volcano Manor and Mt gelmir has been my favourite region and dungeon so far. Loved the climb up to it and the dungeon was super cool with a great boss fight. The atlus pleteau and the capital might top it through... I am only at the outskirts but Jesus Christ it's the most breathtaking videogame environment ever! It's looks like Minas Tirith! Next would be limgrave and the underground joint, then caelid then liurnia of lakes. Caelid and liurnia are both good but but a bit too open and lack the structure of the other regions. Low point has been Lake of the Rot god that placd was tedious. I've enjoyed the posion swap areas in the past but this is taken to far. You lose heath way too quickly and recover way to slowly.

How long have I got left? I know there's a whole other region after the capital.

you are about 2/3 of the game

but reading your excitement, I'm sorry but I think that after the capital you're going to get a pretty cold shower...

 

[The artful mincer]

you are about 2/3 of the game

but reading your excitement, I'm sorry but I think that after the capital you're going to get a pretty cold shower...

Lol I ve heard mixed reactions about the latter half so we will see!

 

[Dragon_Rocks]

By any chance do you work for IGN?

Also. Is there a shortcut fighting those two atlas knight, one with shield and sword and the other with a spear..those rolling assholes are annoying af

Where exactly is this? Rolling assholes?

 

[Fess]

Astel boss in lake of rot, can we all agree that it’s the worst boss in the game? Annoying one-shot attacks and simply no fun at all, it even looked ugly. Finally beat it

 

[ÆMNE22A!C]

By any chance do you work for IGN?



Where exactly is this? Rolling assholes?

These pricks

Redirect Notice

Not "hard" but annoying when 3 of them roll around when speed running (aka less to no patience) to those 2 knights. That could kill me in 2 or 3 hits I was fucking around.

 

[Dragon_Rocks]

These pricks

Redirect Notice

Not "hard" but annoying when 3 of them roll around when speed running (aka less to no patience) to those 2 knights. That could kill me in 2 or 3 hits I was fucking around.

You mean the chariot automatons? If this the Auriza hero grave where there are 3 of them two on one side and third on another then just go into the lower side passage (where the death basilisks are) and stay close to the edge where the chariots just miss you and use mogh or margit shackle. After some time they will be destroyed. Another way is to just use raptor mist ash when they are about to hit you.

 

[ÆMNE22A!C]

 

[DelireMan7]

So I started my third playthrough.

I'll go mostly Strength and use Roar abilities to make a brute warrior. The end goal is to use Godfrey's weapons and ash of war.
Will put a bit of Dex to use Godrick's axe.


I'll explore again carefully and this time take notes to make some lore digging.

I already found fascinating the relation with Roots and death.
The first statue that indicates Catacombs mention a place where roots gather.
Then in the first catacombs (Stormfoot), the ghost at the entrance says that a true death means returning to the Erdtree and with time we will hear the call of the roots (our death).
The Root Resin description mentions it is believed that roots of Greattree are connected to the Erdtree and this why Catacombs are built around these roots.

All catacombs ends with a massive amount of roots and corpse. Some of the corpse seems to merge with the roots and becomes yellowish.

In addition, the Iron door in the catacombs depicts a big tree with corpse in the branch and yellow stuff in the root. There is also an human figure near the root (The death ?)

It seems people bury the dead near the roots of Greattrees to allow them to "go back to the Erdtree". Greattree (and maybe the Erdtree) seems to assimilate the dead to grow further.

On other topic the description of the Carian's Telescope is also interesting.
The golden order has fettered the fate in the night skies.
This makes echo to Ranni's quest. But in the quest I got it was Radhan preventing the fate (by holding the stars). Also I still don't know what is the Golden order. Is it a physical order with members ? Or more a greater being or concept like the Greater will ? Does Radhan is part of it ?

Other topic again, the massive statue above the cave of Knowledge (first location of Limgrave) is interesting. A headless (or hooded can't say) carrying a rather skeletal person pointing the sky. Somehow reminds me of Mogh and Miquella's story. But no real evidence it's linked.

I haven't watched any lore video so it's really interesting to try figuring stuff by myself.

 

[ÆMNE22A!C]

So yeah, Strength and Faith. Now I have to farm smithing stones +1


I'm such a dunce

 

[Soodanim]

So yeah, Strength and Faith. Now I have to farm smithing stones +1


I'm such a dunce

What areas have you unlocked? You might be able to get the Bell Bearing that unlocks them for puchase

 

[Mephisto40]

So yeah, Strength and Faith. Now I have to farm smithing stones +1


I'm such a dunce

You can get two items that allow you to buy smithing stones 1-6 right from the start of the game with a bit of traveling, no need to farm them

 

[ÆMNE22A!C]

Weird. I feel I got those... Where do you buy these?

 

[ÆMNE22A!C]

What areas have you unlocked? You might be able to get the Bell Bearing that unlocks them for puchase

Edit: i was confused

Uhh.... A lot but not all. Guess missed some sellers

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

I’m so much earlier lol, got the game like 3 weeks ago, beat arm boy, met a surprisingly large turtle and are exploring limgrave and liurnia.

Currently setting my goal to hit the carian mansion but the smith warned me if a snare and I’m worried that I’ll be trapped inside.

Dex build, branching into arcane for that sweet bleed damage.