Topic: Elden Ring Hype Thread

@Jimmer-jammer What’s your take on the grassroots review bombing because it’s too difficult? Is it really that much harder? Or is it because more ‘casual’ types of players have jumped onto Elden Ring and weren’t prepared to the traditional bump in difficulty?

SotE has been a ride so far, and some of the new environments feel really 'fresh', new and exciting. It is a great showpiece from FromSoft, and a body of work they should be incredibly proud of.

Some of the criticisms regarding difficulty seem a little unfair IMO....and almost reminiscent of some individuals claiming base game was 'baby-mode easy' (!)

Erdtree is punishing, but if you go in with a ~150 lvl build - and focus early-game on gathering scadutree fragments, then this mitigates a lot of hardship. I learnt the hard way that those fragments are the key to success, with each fragment level increasing your damage dealt (And decreasing damage received) by ~5%. Even just getting to fragment level 3 or 4 makes a huge different. The great dragon shield (?) talisman goes a long way in keeping you alive also.

The new builds and weapon types are awesome, and this for me is where From have really landed well. I'm currently using a full DEX build with the backhand blade/s. The inbuild AoW is just so cool, like a side-step/dodge that goes into a swift slice.

But yeah, if you go in at 150, focus on scadutree fragments, and have a decent enough build then it is definitely manageable. The mimic tear is still as reliable as its ever been, although it certainly doesn't guarantee a 'cake walk' as it did some bosses in base game.

@Th3solution I think one of the problems is that the people that have gone into the DLC having started NG+ (and then some) expecting it to be a walk in the park. Maybe Elden Ring is their first game by FromSoftware, but I am unsure.

Leveling up the traditional way seems to have less effect against the tougher enemies and you need to seek out the scadutree fragments. I struggled against the first optional boss, went away to do some exploring and got a few more fragments. The fight was much more manageable then, and it was soon beaten.

As I said in one of the articles, I don't feel the dlc is any more difficult than the end game for Elden Ring. Some enemies will still punish you if you don't adapt to them.

@Jimmer-jammer Is it possible to become op with leveling up via the dlc's specific resources or can you "just get by" ?if you make use of them, for want of a better expression. @Th3solution Do you think you will play this at some point or still on the fence? Do you intend to go DS3 then Elden Ring then Elden Ring DLC or an alternative route?

@BlAcK_SwOrDsMaN I don't think so, as far as I'm aware there are only a finite amount of the resources located in the world. They are not like Souls/Runes where you can farm them ad nauseum from killing enemies.

@Jimmer-jammer @JohnnyShoulder Interesting. Yeah, with a game as long as Elden Ring, it’s tough to ask someone to go back and do a full playthrough again, so them having to use an NG+ run to access the content is probably part of the issue. It’s cool that they’re able to get that early game struggle and satisfaction though.

@BlAcK_SwOrDsMaN Yeah, I’m definitely going to play Elden Ring. Not sure about the DLC though. I already bought the base game and didn’t anticipate it taking me this long to get to it, but I might purchase the Erdtree content and play it alongside my first playthrough, I don’t know. The base game is so long though, that taking a game from 100 hours up to 140 hours just doesn’t appeal to me.

But yes — the pathway is still: finish DS2: Scholar edition —> play DS3 Firefades Ed —> Elden Ring….
I’m going to stick to my order, so far.

@Th3solution It's not a full playthough to get to the dlc, it's two bosses. One is earlyish and the other is fairly late, but there are shortcuts to get to the latter boss.

If you are on NG+, you should know where to go etc, so it won't take you as long as it did initially. And if anyone is really struggling against bosses, there are various ways to make life easier like summoning etc.

I was stuck on a boss in Shadow on Sunday, changed my weapon last night and beat it first time lol.

Is the recent scadutree blessings + revered spirit ashes buff making much difference to the perceived difficulty?

@BlAcK_SwOrDsMaN in fairness yes it has actually made a great deal of difference, at least for me.

As I understand it, the max level of scadutree blessing is 20.... and the first 10 levels have been frontloaded with additional multipliers (increase damage dealt + decrease damage received).

I am currently level 12, so really reaping the benefits. I must confess that I've been struggling a bit with the game (pre-patch) so this adjustment was quite welcome for me.

@Th3solution @JohnnyShoulder My intended build for Elden Ring, except with a different character model that's more representative of previous Strength Builds I've done, nothing against 'Lady Guts' but it's just not my personal style. Everything else about the build works for me though, and I hope it won't have been nerfed by the time I get around to it in a few months time. Just look at the damage output against bosses!

@BlAcK_SwOrDsMaN great build. Should get you really far.

@BlAcK_SwOrDsMaN Nice man. I never really done any of these builds and just taken bits that works for me.

Why make the DLC easier. Sony is happy with the sales they make, with me buying new dual sense controllers every month after they’ve hit the living room wall😂😂😂

@Jimmer-jammer How is your playthrough of SOTE going?

@LN78 Allow me to sympathise with you...

I really enjoyed my time with Erdtree, and felt that the difficulty was fairly well managed/balanced for the most part. Post-patch, which buffed the initial 1-10 Scadutree levels, was a necessity I felt... and ultimately lead to a far more enjoyable experience. (I still had a few 'roadblock' bosses, Messmir etc, but nothing every felt 'unbeatable')

The final boss however is just another level of absolute BS. I am fine with difficulty, but it feels like this boss was designed to only be beaten by the 1% absolute elite playerbase... the kind of demographic that are able to play this game like it pays their bills! The second phase is absolutely absurd.

I was Scadutree blessing +18 and Spirt Ash +7 when I got to him, and was just getting caned. Had a solid build that had carried me through base and DLC (power stance Bloodhound fang, emphasis on jump attacks and buffs etc).

In the end I had to resort to summoning in other players to help, something I'd actually not done in the game before (usually I would summon my Mimic Tear instead). I actually had a blast playing online, albeit took about 11-12 tries. I held my own on the final successful run, but it was still insanely hard.

Have you tried summoning in other players to help? I found that the biggest difference is that other players actually split the aggro 50/50... whereas my Mimic Tear probably drew about 5% of the bosses attention!!

@LN78 I feel your pain mate, genuinely at level 18 I was still getting wrecked. I had 70 vigor as well, using the Dragon Greatshield and various resistance +3 talismans (Holy etc)

Had I not had the ability to summon another player, I think I genuinely would have given up. I've beaten plenty of 'hard bosses' in my time - Nameless Puppet (Lies of P) / Eviterno (Blasphemous 2) / Ishinn (Sekiro)..... but the DLC final boss is just absurd.

Did you switch 'online play' on from start screen? I kept forgetting to do that, which stopped the ability to use the finger and summon

@LN78 @CJD87 On a related note, I read an article recently wherein they said that FromSoft have reached a 'threshold' of difficulty with the SOTE dlc, they said that apparently, according to market research, most people believe that future games can't exceed that level of difficulty and the company needs to go in a different direction, like they did w/ Sekiro and Bloodborne previously and try something new, rather than just increasing the difficulty w/ each game because after, like you two said, bosses like that final dlc boss they really can go no further.

@BlAcK_SwOrDsMaN That is really interesting, I had no idea.

Personally, Sekiro is my favorite From game (by a mile) and I'd love to see them branch off again slightly in a direction that still leans into traditional Souls-elements but with some twists (like Sekiro).

I definitely stand by the final boss in SotE being absolute BS though.... but no doubt that somewhere on the internet will be a 10-year old blindfolded Japanese girl who is playing on a dancepad and managed to beat him lol

@LN78 Ah mate.... normally I'd send words of encouragement, along the lines of "keep at it, you'll get him eventually!"

But in this case, I honestly don't know how any mere mortal can beat this guy without resorting to cheese tactics and/or summoning.

Maybe the hardest boss I had recently was Eviterno in Blasphemous 2... but even then, I always felt a belief that 'eventually I'll get there'. But not with SotE final boss. Had I not summoned help, I don't think I'd ever have got him.

What is your build btw?

@LN78 Congrats!

Actually, he is extremely easy with Bloody Helice + Fingerprint Stone Shield at 80 Arcane. I had to respec before him to avoid headache and at +18 fragments and +8 Spirit Ash Mimic I destroyed him with bleed!

Planning ahead pays off!