Topic: Elden Ring Hype Thread

Per my post above, you should try using an int-scaling weapon and going full INT (I went up to 60) after the min dex/str. I did it with DMGS but you could probably do the same with moonveil. It makes you still a melee monster thanks to the int scaling but also good with spells.

@CJD87 @render I am running a similar build of dex/vig I mainly Two hand my Uchi and use unsheathe a lot. I'm interested in both your builds though either duoing katanas or using moonviel. I was thinking of lvling up arcane and seeing how the blood buildup is, however moonviel with int might be good too.

@velio84 so I’m just a little ways ahead of you and I would definitely suggest fully exploring the lake/swamp if you haven’t already.

After I finished the academy, I went back and did Castle Morne as I hadn’t done it previously… and then pressed on towards Caria Manor. I got sidetracked along the way though and found myself within a multi-story mine that had loads of awesome smithing stones etc. I lost a whole level worth of Runes at one point as I fell off a ledge while on a corpse-run but it was still a worthwhile sojourn for sure.

@Mega-Gazz I guess that's the decision I need to make now as MV scales really well with INT so should be good going forward throwing runes behind that. That does lock me out of other more DEX based weapons though but I guess there's always the re-distribution of stats mentioned by @velio84. I've not got to the Academy or Raya Lucaria yet anyway but would be interesting to know if it's a one time change or you can choose to do that whenever you like.

@Elodin Will let you know how the Moonveil is as I'll be trying that as soon as possible.

Edit: Just seen your reply @Kairu, so seems that it's something you wouldn't want to do too often but you can change a few times if you like as long as you can find the item.

@velio84 When I was at that point I went East and did the red bit of the map. Did a lot of stuff including killing the main boss there etc. When I continued on and went to the next critical path place I was, I think, slightly overlevelled because I was doing A LOT of damage to bosses but it was still presenting a decent challenge.

@Mega-Gazz Really enjoying reading about everyone's builds and playstyles! I plan to cop the Moonveil sometime soon, and then perhaps do a huge 'late-game' respec, pushing a lot of my stats from DEX - - > INT.

The blood build and dual katanas I have working for me now are pretty solid, and I managed to finally upgrade my Naga (main hand) to +15 Keen. Alongside off-hand Uchi +10 keen they are doing some serious damage.

but Moonveil definitely has my interest peaked!!

Awesome man, and I am loving reading about the build diversity! I have a small tip for you, which will help whilst you favor 'Unsheathe' as AoW. The defualt AoW you get with starting as Samurai I think you cannot alter affinity/scaling. BUT there is 'another' Unsheathe AoW (ts NW of the agheel lake site of grace I think) out in the world.

If you find this 2nd Unsheathe AoW, you can assign this to your katana instead and it will allow you to select a specific affinity (eg 'keen' if you want to scale it with DEX). Of course you need the right whetblade items to unlock the various affinities, but this will be v helpful!

My early game I was addicted to unsheathe, and found another by chance... and the 2nd 'open world' Unsheathe allowed me to apply scaling for DEX

@CJD87 Cheers for the tip, I will check that out as it should help a load with my current setup. The build diversity is truly amazing and the open world nature of it means that there's so many more possible combinations than were possible before.

Can't wait to play later, just gotta get all this real world stuff out the way first 😀

@render yes what @velio84 mentioned is a respec where you can move your stats around. The Larval Tears used to buy respects are rare at first, but at this point I have 10 of them. If you look where to get them you can get one easily.

Also, because this is a FromSoft game they aren’t very good about letting you try something without committing resources you can’t get back. For that reason I fully endorse save-scumming using PS+ in order to try out a respec before committing to it. Just log out at the respec person, manually upload your save to the cloud (or USB). This will turn off auto-sync so that it’ll only upload when you tell it to. Then go log in, respec and/or spend smithing stones, try it out a bit, and then log out of the game. If your auto-synch is off, you can go download your previously uploaded save and go back to before you experimented.

@colonelkilgore After playing it for a bit would you agree that it is the easiest game in the series or are there some harder parts after all?

Onto the final area of the game. Closing in on the platinum too!

@velio84 I think there might be a weapon that disappears due to certain events in the story. And also you have to make sure you do Hug Lady’s quest properly since there’s a boss at the end.

I didn't play any elden ring yesterday. I think I'm going to look up where to start the quest line for the blue four armed lady, I really liked her, and it would be a shame if I missed her.

@nessisonett Hug lady? You mean that girl in the round table? she actually has a quest? shoot, I should have used the thing she gave me, then there is that dude looking for his apprentice.

@TheBrandedSwordsman I’d say it’s much of a muchness buddy. I don’t think any of them are ‘noticeably’ easier or harder than the others really. Absolutely loving the game though, I’d recommend you go get it as soon as you can.

@velio84 That parrying mastery is impressive. It's the one thing I've not really gotten the hang of in this game, unfortunately. Same was true of BotW, where I could never quite time parries of Guardian laser blasts appropriately, despite practicing. Although I've built my playstyle around not being able to parry, so it's not a big deal. I just don't like not mastering certain aspects of the games I play.

Any tips?

@TheBrandedSwordsman @Jimmer-jammer @colonelkilgore I can vouch for this too. I think the only boss I've struggled with is the Tree Sentinel (which is an optional 'field' boss), all the other bosses I've faced so far I've beaten in a handful of attempts. Which is nothing compared to some of the more difficult bosses I've faced in previous games.

Graces are plentiful in the world, and when they are not there are statues which you can choose to respawn to.

@Ralizah Practice. Start with some slower, easier enemies to get the timing right. Watch their attack patterns and learn them. Then when you have more confidence, move on to some more difficult enemies.

There is also Guard Counters in Elden Ring which are easier to pull off then ripostes. Just press R2 after blocking an attack, and you will deal significantly more damage.

@velio84 I've practiced with various knights one-on-one. I just... dunno, I've only successfully parried a few times, but I usually just end up getting hit. The timing window for the input must be incredibly small.

@JohnnyShoulder I made heavy use of guard counters before switching to dual katana. Great mechanic.

@Elodin @CJD87 I can confirm the Moonveil rocks. I’ve only upgraded it once but dual welding it with a standard Uchigatana is ripping through most human sized and slightly bigger enemies and making short work of others.

The transient moonlight skill is really powerful and great for bigger stuff and crowd control. I did a few mini bosses as well and even though I took damage I still did them in less than a minute.

I can only imagine what it would be like fully upgraded along with the right talismans.