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Behold, [Elden Ring]! Don't Give Up Skeleton! (SPOILER WARNING!)
I am finishing up my first run shortly. I did a str/fai run that was mostly just str/def bloodhound with some faith healing and buffs. I think I'd like to do another run focused on spells since I didn't ever use them. Can someone recommend a build for this? I've got enough stones I'd like to prep the kit before I roll credits too.
What is this I don't even.
0
Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
Theres a new NPC on my shitlist.
*Ranni quest*
Turns out Iji tried to imprison Blaidd and for that, he can kiss the fattest part of my tarnished ass.
Turns out Iji tried to imprison Blaidd and for that, he can kiss the fattest part of my tarnished ass.
Me and Blaidd are in this til the end.
I am not making excuses for him but there is a pretty big reason for him to do that.
He said as much but I trust Blaidd more than I do him if he can just easily throw one of his comrades in a cell with no explanation and then calmly relay it to me.
That and I don't think its what Ranni would want since it sounds like both of them are pretty close since childhood.
I know since this is a Souls game he's going to end up tearing out Ranni's throat and wearing her skull as a hat or something but just really felt like going with the sentimental choice despite my character being a power hungry sociopath that gobbles down whatever dragon hearts or forbidden magic he can find.
Turns out Iji tried to imprison Blaidd and for that, he can kiss the fattest part of my tarnished ass.
Me and Blaidd are in this til the end.
I am not making excuses for him but there is a pretty big reason for him to do that.
He said as much but I trust Blaidd more than I do him if he can just easily throw one of his comrades in a cell with no explanation and then calmly relay it to me. Blaidd has earned his chances whether it goes wrong or not.
That and I don't think its what Ranni would want since it sounds like both of them are pretty close since childhood.
I cant remember when details emerge but if you say there is no reason then keep on the story cause there is a very valid reason heh. This story/quest line is probably #1 ive experienced in all of souls universe.
Iji wasn't really wrong to lock Blaidd up, but also, if Blaidd hadn't gotten free for his last stand before going crazy things might have gone poorly. Though maybe not, Ranni is stronk (as evidenced by what happens if you piss her off with puppet creep's quest line).
Iji wasn't really wrong to lock Blaidd up, but also, if Blaidd hadn't gotten free for his last stand before going crazy things might have gone poorly. Though maybe not, Ranni is stronk (as evidenced by what happens if you piss her off with puppet creep's quest line).
By the time you find Blaidd at Ranni's tower Ranni herself is long gone so I'm not sure what those Black Knives could have even accomplished otherwise.
Also I've been watching the Tarnished Archaeologist's videos and I have no idea how much of this is intended and how much is just pareidolia, but just the fact that you can approach Elden Ring the way you would actual ancient ruins speaks to how impressive the world design really is.
While racing light mechs, your Urbanmech comes in second place, but only because it ran out of ammo.
I went from Elden Ring to Star Wars Fallen Order and just how different the design is.
Elden Ring every other character is a person, you can trust them or not, it's entirely up to you. Do you do what they ask? Do you kill them? Are they right or wrong? Absolutely no hand holding.
For example, I killed Seluvis immediately after I figured out what he was up to. No thank you. No thank you at all.
Then you have a more traditional action adventure game like Fallen Order. Every character is clearly labeled good or bad. Here's your straight forward path. Hell, even the level up mechanic is clearly outlined.
I am in the business of saving lives.
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Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
edited January 2023
Some real themeing going on with duality, isn't there?
Characters with literally two faces, characters being introduced with one name and then popping up with another one (very odd), characters with dark and light sides or seemingly different personalties, twins, etc.
Some real themeing going on with duality, isn't there?
Characters with literally two faces, characters being introduced with one name and then popping up with another one (very odd), characters with dark and light sides or seemingly different personalties, twins, etc.
It's the theme of the entire game, yeah.
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Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
Some real themeing going on with duality, isn't there?
Characters with literally two faces, characters being introduced with one name and then popping up with another one (very odd), characters with dark and light sides or seemingly different personalties, twins, etc.
It's the theme of the entire game, yeah.
I'm just surprised I'm picking up on any of it. I'm pretty dense.
Usually takes me like five podcasts and an entire video essay series for me to start piecing things together in From games.
Some real themeing going on with duality, isn't there?
Characters with literally two faces, characters being introduced with one name and then popping up with another one (very odd), characters with dark and light sides or seemingly different personalties, twins, etc.
It's the theme of the entire game, yeah.
I'm just surprised I'm picking up on any of it. I'm pretty dense.
Usually takes me like five podcasts and an entire video essay series for me to start piecing things together in From games.
I think they went out of their way to make the theming a bit more blatant than the Souls games, which I feel are far more opaque and buried in item descriptions.
That's not to say they don't do that, it's absolutely done, but there's one questline in particular where it comes with someone pointing you directly to the answer.
jungleroomx on
+2
GoodKingJayIIIThey wanna get mygold on the ceilingRegistered Userregular
Frankly, Iji's on my shitlist for the name alone. Did YOU take down a Komato General in his 60-ft warmech and save the Earth (possibly?) No? Then you're not friggin' Iji!
You know what? Nanowrimo's cancelled on account of the world is stupid.
+2
jungleroomxIt's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovelsRegistered Userregular
I wish the English in these games were a bit less, I dunno, punched up? from the Japanese.
I don't think there's anything in the game that you can't understand from the translation, but there's way more room for people who aren't really paying attention to come to bizarre conclusions through poor reading comprehension.
Some of Ranni's later dialogue being the big example.
It's not even a matter of translation conventions, which I have some heretical opinions on anyway, but like, maybe don't make things harder to understand in English? FFXIV has a few high-profile instances of this too, where information is lost or obfuscated beyond the normal loss of idioms or relationship markers or whatever to make a conversation seem more mysterious.
Dug out my xbox360 and fired up dark souls for the first time in years and years and discovered two things.
1) My Fire Zweihander dude is at O&S in NG+ , he is only level 88. I am apparently some kind of masochist.
2) Holy shit the club. Started a pyromancer, rocked up to the undead berg merchant and on a whim bought the club. R1 feels mediocre, slow and no real improvement on my (crappy) starter axe. Lets just try the R2... I AM DEATH DESTROYER OF WORLDS. ALL FEAR ME.
I am now at the Haligtree and feel like I’m severely underleveled for this place at ~120
The Snowfield I felt like I could hold my own against most enemies but here even the stupid zombies will wreck you if you allow them close enough for a grab
Is there a fast way to murder the big Miranda Flowers I’m somehow missing? I tend to catch them on fire which is visually impressive but does much less damage than I feel like it should.
“I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
i've been doing a lot of experimentation with stuff and doing runs through some of the zanier sections and heavy poise damage and strong ashes/spells is the only way to keep it manageable unless you have the patience and dodge timing of a superman
based on how the level is designed, i really think a lot of it is just not meant to be engaged except as a challenge. the worst bits can be circumvented with careful exploration.
i've been doing a lot of experimentation with stuff and doing runs through some of the zanier sections and heavy poise damage and strong ashes/spells is the only way to keep it manageable unless you have the patience and dodge timing of a superman
based on how the level is designed, i really think a lot of it is just not meant to be engaged except as a challenge. the worst bits can be circumvented with careful exploration.
I think you're definitely meant to just run past most stuff
Yeah when i first arrived in the upper branches i kept getting wrecked by the bubbles until I figured out it was meant to be a mad dash to the next site of grace, and to some extent the whole section prior to Loretta is like that.
A few items to grab but not all that many
I kind of like how vertical Elphael is though
“I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
the giant bubblemen in the upper branches are, for my money, the worst motherfuckers in the videogame
+2
jungleroomxIt's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovelsRegistered Userregular
I enjoy Elphael.
The best part about doing a build with Faith and Incantations is how much you just fucking wreck Revenants with Lords Heal. 2 casts and the stunlocked idiots just die.
i have trauma from my first run through with essentially a dex build and it just did not have the raw power to get through those health bars. that build still feels bad there
my later builds have gone a lot better (my int build even thrives, almost) and i don’t mind it as much.
has anybody run the whole game with a plain dex build? how was it?
i did my first run as dex/int but did no spellcasting, mostly just powerstancing moonveil and a magic uchi. when moonveil got the scrub stink on it, i relegated it to the left hand and, after beating everything, tidied the build up by just full on transitioning to a dex build with serpentbone blade, uchi/waka powerstance, cross naginata. the run was a real mixed bag on the difficulty front, but it's hard to gauge how much was unfamiliarity with the game. but man i'll be real it's just sucked ass post-game when i can only really test it by throwing it at elphael. not sure if it's a bad matchup, or if dex just kinda blows now.
I did a playthrough with a keen guardian's swordspear and it was fine. Same as ever, you hit stuff until it dies, and you're pretty good at that.
Elphael is definitely one of those "this game is bullshit and so can you" kind of areas. Like, that killzone with the the putrid tree spirit alone is definitely not meant to be fought in any normal sense.
+1
jungleroomxIt's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovelsRegistered Userregular
edited January 2023
Speaking of Elphael
I got my characters proper fashion and got the picture in my favorite little section of the game. It's just a broken ornamental window bit in Haligtree before you get to the section with Loretta, but it's a fucking mood
Proper fashion spoilered, as to avoid stupid H scroll
I did a playthrough with a keen guardian's swordspear and it was fine. Same as ever, you hit stuff until it dies, and you're pretty good at that.
Elphael is definitely one of those "this game is bullshit and so can you" kind of areas. Like, that killzone with the the putrid tree spirit alone is definitely not meant to be fought in any normal sense.
I always use the path over the top, get the bonfire, then pull it in there.
Have to be good at fighting them face to face, obviously, but it's pretty straightforward even in the small area.
I did a playthrough with a keen guardian's swordspear and it was fine. Same as ever, you hit stuff until it dies, and you're pretty good at that.
Elphael is definitely one of those "this game is bullshit and so can you" kind of areas. Like, that killzone with the the putrid tree spirit alone is definitely not meant to be fought in any normal sense.
for me i think it's maybe less the stat than that light weapons feel kinda iffy
the big thing is that enemies are back to having DS1 poise so they can just facetank small hits. i tend to try out weapons on beefy mid-size enemies; banished knights, omens, the haligtree knights. and using like, a rapier on one of them is just doing one weak R1 poke and maybe safely landing it in between having to roll through their combos and it's just like
when do i get to play
when you can't land more than one hit at time, what's DPS doing for you. and when i was using serpentbone katana two-handed, i'd fight a haligtree knight and just have no answer for shields at all. you can't change the ash on it, so it's like shrug?
i get using colossals, heavy thrusting swords, polearms, greatswords, etc, and i can make a katana or straight sword work with the right ash, but anything lighter than that is like, fuck i hope i have bleed
Limiting it to things lighter than a straight sword seems odd, since they've very very rarely been good without status effects or a buff. But let me think...you can put impaling thrust on anything that can poke, right?
Though apparently it still has disappointing stagger on daggers.
You don't really need to go magic for glintblade phalanx to be an option for stagger independent of your weapon, though thematically that's a bit of a departure from pure dex.
I'd imagine various powerstanced dex setups do just fine if you're confident in your dodging and can play aggressively enough to get staggers or win DPS races; keen estoc breaks 500 AR keen with no strength investment, so that's not nothing once you're going in hard. Keen Urumi breaks 600 and has some decent reach. You have options if you really want to go that route.
0
Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
edited January 2023
Guardian's swordspear gets it right.
The movesets of most spears and halberds are painfully boring with just kind of a lot of dorky looking line thrusting. The swordspear actually has a lot of style and feels great.
I did a playthrough with a keen guardian's swordspear and it was fine. Same as ever, you hit stuff until it dies, and you're pretty good at that.
Elphael is definitely one of those "this game is bullshit and so can you" kind of areas. Like, that killzone with the the putrid tree spirit alone is definitely not meant to be fought in any normal sense.
for me i think it's maybe less the stat than that light weapons feel kinda iffy
the big thing is that enemies are back to having DS1 poise so they can just facetank small hits. i tend to try out weapons on beefy mid-size enemies; banished knights, omens, the haligtree knights. and using like, a rapier on one of them is just doing one weak R1 poke and maybe safely landing it in between having to roll through their combos and it's just like
when do i get to play
when you can't land more than one hit at time, what's DPS doing for you. and when i was using serpentbone katana two-handed, i'd fight a haligtree knight and just have no answer for shields at all. you can't change the ash on it, so it's like shrug?
i get using colossals, heavy thrusting swords, polearms, greatswords, etc, and i can make a katana or straight sword work with the right ash, but anything lighter than that is like, fuck i hope i have bleed
I haven't done a rapier run so I can't give you any advice in specific, but it's DS3 style poise instead of DS1. Enemies and different attacks have stagger values, and if an attack doesn't meet an enemy's stagger value it will never stagger them. Like it'll still do poise damage and can stance break them, but you'll never get a flinch. Maybe strong attacks or jumping attacks can get you staggers on medium to heavy enemies where RBs can't?
Though really I'd say the answer for most of the enemy types mentioned is just do punish backstabs. Or maybe grab a barricade shield and bounce -> guard counter.
Posts
That's what I'm doing with my first run. I'm in the capital now and it's still just so hilariously better than anything else I've found so far.
Up to level 90 now, btw.
Sweet merciful lord that’s a lot of damage
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
*Ranni quest*
Me and Blaidd are in this til the end.
I am not making excuses for him but there is a pretty big reason for him to do that.
That was my weapon for almost my whole first run Dan. It is so good.
That and I don't think its what Ranni would want since it sounds like both of them are pretty close since childhood.
I know since this is a Souls game he's going to end up tearing out Ranni's throat and wearing her skull as a hat or something but just really felt like going with the sentimental choice despite my character being a power hungry sociopath that gobbles down whatever dragon hearts or forbidden magic he can find.
Also I've been watching the Tarnished Archaeologist's videos and I have no idea how much of this is intended and how much is just pareidolia, but just the fact that you can approach Elden Ring the way you would actual ancient ruins speaks to how impressive the world design really is.
Elden Ring every other character is a person, you can trust them or not, it's entirely up to you. Do you do what they ask? Do you kill them? Are they right or wrong? Absolutely no hand holding.
For example, I killed Seluvis immediately after I figured out what he was up to. No thank you. No thank you at all.
Then you have a more traditional action adventure game like Fallen Order. Every character is clearly labeled good or bad. Here's your straight forward path. Hell, even the level up mechanic is clearly outlined.
Characters with literally two faces, characters being introduced with one name and then popping up with another one (very odd), characters with dark and light sides or seemingly different personalties, twins, etc.
It's the theme of the entire game, yeah.
Usually takes me like five podcasts and an entire video essay series for me to start piecing things together in From games.
I think they went out of their way to make the theming a bit more blatant than the Souls games, which I feel are far more opaque and buried in item descriptions.
That's not to say they don't do that, it's absolutely done, but there's one questline in particular where it comes with someone pointing you directly to the answer.
Yeah but Ranni's storyline is awesome.
Love that weapon.
More like Malekissyourassgoodbye.
I absolutely love this build
I don't think there's anything in the game that you can't understand from the translation, but there's way more room for people who aren't really paying attention to come to bizarre conclusions through poor reading comprehension.
Some of Ranni's later dialogue being the big example.
It's not even a matter of translation conventions, which I have some heretical opinions on anyway, but like, maybe don't make things harder to understand in English? FFXIV has a few high-profile instances of this too, where information is lost or obfuscated beyond the normal loss of idioms or relationship markers or whatever to make a conversation seem more mysterious.
the roar medallion doesn't work on dragon shit but it works aesthetically i think, and i wanted to try out the angle anyway
Dug out my xbox360 and fired up dark souls for the first time in years and years and discovered two things.
1) My Fire Zweihander dude is at O&S in NG+ , he is only level 88. I am apparently some kind of masochist.
2) Holy shit the club. Started a pyromancer, rocked up to the undead berg merchant and on a whim bought the club. R1 feels mediocre, slow and no real improvement on my (crappy) starter axe. Lets just try the R2... I AM DEATH DESTROYER OF WORLDS. ALL FEAR ME.
I made a game, it has penguins in it. It's pay what you like on Gumroad.
Currently Ebaying Nothing at all but I might do in the future.
The Snowfield I felt like I could hold my own against most enemies but here even the stupid zombies will wreck you if you allow them close enough for a grab
Is there a fast way to murder the big Miranda Flowers I’m somehow missing? I tend to catch them on fire which is visually impressive but does much less damage than I feel like it should.
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
i've been doing a lot of experimentation with stuff and doing runs through some of the zanier sections and heavy poise damage and strong ashes/spells is the only way to keep it manageable unless you have the patience and dodge timing of a superman
based on how the level is designed, i really think a lot of it is just not meant to be engaged except as a challenge. the worst bits can be circumvented with careful exploration.
I think you're definitely meant to just run past most stuff
A few items to grab but not all that many
I kind of like how vertical Elphael is though
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
The best part about doing a build with Faith and Incantations is how much you just fucking wreck Revenants with Lords Heal. 2 casts and the stunlocked idiots just die.
my later builds have gone a lot better (my int build even thrives, almost) and i don’t mind it as much.
i did my first run as dex/int but did no spellcasting, mostly just powerstancing moonveil and a magic uchi. when moonveil got the scrub stink on it, i relegated it to the left hand and, after beating everything, tidied the build up by just full on transitioning to a dex build with serpentbone blade, uchi/waka powerstance, cross naginata. the run was a real mixed bag on the difficulty front, but it's hard to gauge how much was unfamiliarity with the game. but man i'll be real it's just sucked ass post-game when i can only really test it by throwing it at elphael. not sure if it's a bad matchup, or if dex just kinda blows now.
Elphael is definitely one of those "this game is bullshit and so can you" kind of areas. Like, that killzone with the the putrid tree spirit alone is definitely not meant to be fought in any normal sense.
I got my characters proper fashion and got the picture in my favorite little section of the game. It's just a broken ornamental window bit in Haligtree before you get to the section with Loretta, but it's a fucking mood
Proper fashion spoilered, as to avoid stupid H scroll
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
I always use the path over the top, get the bonfire, then pull it in there.
Have to be good at fighting them face to face, obviously, but it's pretty straightforward even in the small area.
the big thing is that enemies are back to having DS1 poise so they can just facetank small hits. i tend to try out weapons on beefy mid-size enemies; banished knights, omens, the haligtree knights. and using like, a rapier on one of them is just doing one weak R1 poke and maybe safely landing it in between having to roll through their combos and it's just like
when do i get to play
when you can't land more than one hit at time, what's DPS doing for you. and when i was using serpentbone katana two-handed, i'd fight a haligtree knight and just have no answer for shields at all. you can't change the ash on it, so it's like shrug?
i get using colossals, heavy thrusting swords, polearms, greatswords, etc, and i can make a katana or straight sword work with the right ash, but anything lighter than that is like, fuck i hope i have bleed
Though apparently it still has disappointing stagger on daggers.
You don't really need to go magic for glintblade phalanx to be an option for stagger independent of your weapon, though thematically that's a bit of a departure from pure dex.
I'd imagine various powerstanced dex setups do just fine if you're confident in your dodging and can play aggressively enough to get staggers or win DPS races; keen estoc breaks 500 AR keen with no strength investment, so that's not nothing once you're going in hard. Keen Urumi breaks 600 and has some decent reach. You have options if you really want to go that route.
The movesets of most spears and halberds are painfully boring with just kind of a lot of dorky looking line thrusting. The swordspear actually has a lot of style and feels great.
Though really I'd say the answer for most of the enemy types mentioned is just do punish backstabs. Or maybe grab a barricade shield and bounce -> guard counter.