Elden Ring

[Daweii]

2 hours ago, Designer1 said:

I'd be interested to know which builds / weapons you used and if you switched back and forth or did you stick with a tried and tested setup from Vanilla?

From what I've read it seems some of the DLC weapons are the best options overall but I can't do without my Fingerprint Shield and Spear combo 

I switched between weapons. 

I started the expansion with a 'Nagakiba', which is my favourite weapon in the game that has a default weapon skill that I can't rely on as a crutch.

I also prefer to stay non-toxic and by that, I mean, I prefer to stay away from weapons that disrespect the boss. Weapons like, 'Moonveil', 'Rivers of Blood', any weapon with 'Lions Claw'. If a weapon has an overpowered weapon skill then I tend to stay away from it.

In the expansion though, I didn't stay away from it because Miyazaki gets toxic in the expansion. He added bosses that have no chill, that don't stop attacking, that have almost infinite poise, and will just attack through your attacks. Miyazaki got toxic, so the gloves were off.

After learning what game I was now playing after the first main boss, I switched to an 'Omen Cleaver' and swapped its weapon skill to 'Lions Claw'. 

I then found a 'Dragon-Hunter's Great Katana' in the expansion which I then used for a handful of hours. It was fun and told me that the 'Shadow of the Erdtree' weapons outclass almost all of the vanilla weapons in both raw damage and weapon skill. 

Then when searching for scadoobie fragments I found a 'Backhand Blade' and used that for a while. This weapon has a weapon skill that is probably going to get nerfed in a future patch because it's very powerful.

I then beat another main boss and used their remembrance to get their weapon which I used for pretty much the rest of the expansion. I occasionally swapped it out for a really cool holy damage twinblade called 'Euporia' because some of the dragons seemed weak to holy, but I only used it on dragons.

As for builds? I know there are weapon + armor + talisman synergies, but I fashion souls far too much to go with a fully min/maxed build. I wear what looks good, and I tend to just use the talismans that allow me to deal the most damage;

• 'Dagger Talisman' (crit damage)
• 'Lord of Blood's Exultation' (attack power on bleed)
• 'Radagon's Scarseal' (increases vig, end, str, and dex at cost of taking more damage)
• 'Viridian Amber Medallion' (raises max stamina)

I swapped out 'Lords of Blood's Exultation' for 'Shard of Alexander' (greatly boosts attack power of skills) once the gloves were off and I was using weapon skills more. 

I didn't use any of the expansion talismans which I probably should have done, but many of them just seemed to be +3 variants of vanilla Elden Ring talismans which is pretty boring.

My one tip for anyone struggling in the expansion is to go defensive with talismans. 'Dragoncrest Greatshield' (physical damage resist), 'Pearldrake Talisman' (non-physical damage resist), and (one of) 'Spelldrake', 'Flamedrake', 'Boltdrake', or 'Haligdrake Talisman' which is magic, fire, lightning, and holy damage resist respectively. Then finally something like 'Crucible Scale' (reduced critical damage taken), or 'Viridian Amber Medallion' (raises max stamina). Defence is often the best offence in this expansion because the bosses can kill you in 2-3 hits at all times.

_______________________________________________________________

I will name the boss weapon I used below, but I'll spoiler its name as the bosses name is in it and I know some players want to go in as blind as possible. 

Spoiler

• 'Rellana's Twin Blades'

[Designer1]

DLC done and final boss downed.

Usual brilliance from FROM. 9/10 WPA.

[villarule123]

Anyone played this on PC?

I'm about half way through (maybe!) and it's already my GOAT list.

But the stuttering is horrendous. I've tried so many 'fixes' from Google/Reddit but I still get out of nowhere 1-2 seconds stuttering, something you really don't need on a game like this. It's taking it from a 10/10 to a 9.

[Daweii]

31 minutes ago, villarule123 said:

Anyone played this on PC?

I'm about half way through (maybe!) and it's already my GOAT list.

But the stuttering is horrendous. I've tried so many 'fixes' from Google/Reddit but I still get out of nowhere 1-2 seconds stuttering, something you really don't need on a game like this. It's taking it from a 10/10 to a 9.

I used to get that stuttering, but I found it was my wireless mouse going to sleep that caused it. Once I plugged my mouse in the issue mostly went away. I would still get the occasional 1-2 second stutter because the game is just like that sometimes, but plugging my mouse in solved 99% of the stutters for me. 

[jacketspuds]

After 70 hours I’ve finally managed to play through all of Elden Ring including the incredible DLC.

I think the DLC has rekindled my love for this game.

Spoiler

Thank you Fingerprint greatshield for making the DLC manageable, except those **** Untouchables.

 

[StewieGriffin]

Ok, so, I need some advice/reviews for this...

I'm tempted to get this, as fantasy games/media is my thing, but I HATE pointless free world roaming to try to find a specific plant coupled with skinning a boar in the deepest depths of an impossibly hidden cave in order to craft a potion to give to the Wizard so I can get some armour that doesn't disintegrate when hit (for example, The Witcher 3)

I like quests, and I enjoy combat, but hate aimless wandering.

Should I invest my money on this? Online reviews and videos look good, but Im cautious about what I get

Edited August 9 by StewieGriffin

[Chindie]

On 09/08/2024 at 23:24, StewieGriffin said:

Ok, so, I need some advice/reviews for this...

I'm tempted to get this, as fantasy games/media is my thing, but I HATE pointless free world roaming to try to find a specific plant coupled with skinning a boar in the deepest depths of an impossibly hidden cave in order to craft a potion to give to the Wizard so I can get some armour that doesn't disintegrate when hit (for example, The Witcher 3)

I like quests, and I enjoy combat, but hate aimless wandering.

Should I invest my money on this? Online reviews and videos look good, but Im cautious about what I get

It's not a 'traditional' fantasy RPG. You aren't really being given quests to go find 'the Thing' and bring it back to 'the Guy', you don't have things where progress is gated behind a specific item at any point that I can recall. The exploration is more about discovering things and improving yourself - you are more freeform stumbling on things through your own curiosity and what you get at the end might be useful to you or you might never use it - if you're specced to being a fast dextrous fighter you might finish a dungeon and find a set of heavy armour that is useless to your play style, but equally the next dungeon might give you a katana that is perfect for you, and the only way to know is to do it.

The game is only really gated insofar as you may need to do particular things for the story to progress - there are certain bosses you have to beat for instance. There are quests but they aren't flagged - you may talk to someone and not realise you've started a sub quest, you may find an item that it turns out is actually important to an NPC and used to move their story along, or you may never even speak to them. 

The game is difficult, but it's very rarely unfair. But it's difficulty is what can make it hard for people to engage with - you kinda have to 'get it'. You are going to die, a lot. What you eventually understand is, essentially, it doesn't matter. It doesn't even really matter if you lose a load of souls in doing so. Luckily Elden Ring is probably the most approachable of the games and it's open world gives you benefits earlier titles don't really have - running away is a legitimate tactic in some cases.

There's nothing quite like the games, they're excellent. But they aren't for everyone.