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I got past a pretty critical story boss tonight. The map is still growing. I don't think it's an unreasonable statement to say that all the "modern" fromsoft games (Dark Souls 1/2/3, Bloodborne, Sekiro, Demon's Souls) would all fit inside this game.

It's fucking crazy this exists.

My only current complaint is that if you keep trying to use multiplayer, either co-op or invasions it eventually crashes the game, but this could be some kind of "500K concurrent players" server overload issue that will fix itself in a while.

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Found a dungeon with a bunch of skeletons in it. Wound up finding what looked like a pretty cool sword.

Nope. It's maybe on par with the short sword I started out with and it's not even compatible with my class.

Also, how in the hell do you parry in this game? Or do a quick step? I have those ashes attached to my sword and shield and nothing ever happens. I can't figure it out.

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I finally, finally beat Godrick. I felt like I had to do it in the shittiest, least skill involved way too. Cast three hounds, let them distract Godrick, hope they do it long enough for me to just spam my spell that throws three huge rocks over and over again, and hope he dies. It took about 10 or so tries, but he finally died. 

It makes me wish boss fights weren't so chaotic and relied more on skill and timing and patterns like other fights do. Whenever I get to a boss fight, it's just a total clusterfuck that devolves into me doing exactly what I described above to Godrick.

I feel like I spent 10 hours alone in Stormveil Castle and there's probably still a lot I wound up missing. There was one elevator in particular that was broken and I couldn't figure out how to fix that. There's at least one courtyard that I didn't venture into. And right before the fog with Godrick there was a giant and another dude just chilling on the steps that I didn't bother with. Oh, and another set of steps lead to one of those fucking dumb giant birds that not only had swords for legs, but also breathed fire.

The monsters in this game are like shit that kids would come up with. It's really funny. My wife saw one of those birds with swords for legs and she just laughed.

So now I don't know if I should keep fucking around in Stormveil to fully complete it or move on with my 20 or 30k in souls and level myself up or see if I can further upgrade the Uchigatana. 

And quests are maddening, but it's partially my fault. There's been a half a dozen NPCs I've ran across that have asked me to bring them something, but because this game doesn't have any sort of quest tracker, I can't remember where any of those NPCs even are now. Next time I come across an NPC, I need to tag them on the map and write something down on paper or a notes app so I can go back and see if I get anything special.

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7 hours ago, Craig H said:

 

It makes me wish boss fights weren't so chaotic and relied more on skill and timing and patterns like other fights do. Whenever I get to a boss fight, it's just a total clusterfuck that devolves into me doing exactly what I described above to Godrick.

 

I'm not really sure I understand this since I view every boss fight in the game as, essentially, pattern memorization. I think focussing on that keeps me from raging a lot.

I'm getting close to the end now, I think, but I know there's still a massive chunk of the optional side of the game I haven't touched. I'm also on course to get one of the less popular endings according to the achievement numbers, which is neat. I've done a couple off stream characters as well but they're still miles behind my on stream one. I've yet to even touch sorceries, there's still tons for me to do for a first time which is nice.

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17 hours ago, Death From Above said:

I'm not really sure I understand this since I view every boss fight in the game as, essentially, pattern memorization. I think focussing on that keeps me from raging a lot.

I'm getting close to the end now, I think, but I know there's still a massive chunk of the optional side of the game I haven't touched. I'm also on course to get one of the less popular endings according to the achievement numbers, which is neat. I've done a couple off stream characters as well but they're still miles behind my on stream one. I've yet to even touch sorceries, there's still tons for me to do for a first time which is nice.

And in my experience, every boss fight is just a clusterfuck. Maybe it's because I'm playing an Astrologer, but if it's a big boss fight like Godrick or the big boss before Godrick, I bring in the AI ally, I drop my three wolves, and then from a distance I spam Rock Sling. While that's happening, the boss is just jumping around all over the place, swinging wildly, doing a special attack that I'll roll out of the way of, run away, let the wolves distract the boss, and then go back to spamming Rock Sling until the big boss is dead.

If it's an open world boss, then I think there was maybe one that I didn't kill in one shot because again I drop three wolves, spam Rock Sling until the boss/mini-boss is stunned, go up, hit a critical hit, hack and slash, run back, cast more spells, and then the boss is dead.

I don't know, maybe playing Astrologer is just really broken. For example, I killed that giant spider thing in Stormveil in one go. I basically stood on top of that platform and the dummy just stood underneath me while I cast Rock Sling and Pebble until it was dead. 

I did go back through Stormveil and I cannot figure out how to get that broken elevator working. I'm not even sure it's worth it because every time I've tried going around to see where it can be fixed I wind up in a fight I lose.

Oh, and I felt really, really bad after the fact, but after the Godrick fight...

Spoiler

I wound up killing that weirdo guy. He begged for his life and kept saying, "but I was free!"

I legit almost want to see if I can load a prior save so I can undo what I did.

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Speaking of finding patterns, I stumbled on an area called the Four Belfries. I had to run past these golden giants to get there because those giants are way, way, way harder than any other giants I've come across and they also spawn out of thin air. So I use the teleporter at one of the belfries and that takes me to an island where I have to fight a grafted spider looking thing. At first, I went at this thing like every other fight and just spammed the crap out of rock sling. That didn't work and it made short work of me. I probably died 30 times trying to kill this thing, but I was determined to do it.

I started noticing along the way that you had to do a ranged attack when his shield was down and he was in the middle of his attack. I also discovered that my own shield would block 100% of the damage from his attacks. So I basically circled and circled and circled this thing, waiting for an opening, casting rock sling, going back into a defensive stance, waited out one of it's three big attacks, casted rock sling again, and I wound up killing it without taking any damage. I felt pretty proud of myself. Felt like completing a really hard level in Celeste. And I got a pretty sweet sword and shield out of it that I totally cannot use.

I fast traveled to a grace site after that, went back to the belfries, and couldn't find a key to activate any of the other portals. At least I tagged the area and know where to go back to.

Oh, and I took my chances with trying to fight the Glintstone Dragon near that area. That thing is damn near impossible. I ran away.

So I have sunk in something like 40 hours into this game so far and I've sadly only found two map pieces, which is kinda pathetic. I know others had a much easier time finding maps, but for the life of me I can't find them.

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Look on your map in the un-revealed areas for a little Obelisk-like shape, usually it's on a road, those are gonna be the towers that have a map piece. And it took me forever to realize this too.

Figuring out "that's a map piece" and "that's a mine" were definitely two things that helped me out.

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20 hours ago, Death From Above said:

Look on your map in the un-revealed areas for a little Obelisk-like shape, usually it's on a road, those are gonna be the towers that have a map piece. And it took me forever to realize this too.

Figuring out "that's a map piece" and "that's a mine" were definitely two things that helped me out.

Dude. It worked. I mean, obviously it worked, but that tip is such a lifesaver. Right now I think I'm wandering around an area that's way too high level for me, which is that school on the western edge of the map. So far I made it through the special gate, but getting that key for that gate was a special pain in the ass because the dragon guarding it is relentless. I made it in though, kept playing, and then passed out/fell asleep while playing so now I have no memory of exactly what I was doing after going through that gate. I do know that I'm not ready to fight another lord so I'm hoping this doesn't lead to that.

I also desperately need new or better gear. I'm still using the same crappy armor I started out with. I've used some other pieces of armor, but it makes my rolls/dodges so freaking slow. Finding gear specifically for an astrologer is really hard. Everything weighs you down too much. If I were nearly any other class it would be fine, but where Astrologer has this insane advantage for ranged attacks, you are completely handicapped when it comes to survivability.

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This wizarding school area on the western side of the map that is flooded with stealth zombies can eat my ass. I eventually made my way to the boss fight only to discover that it's probably the first boss fight without a grace site right near it. Plus, the boss in there, this fire wolf thing, is the most chaotic BS ever. There is no pattern or rhyme or reason for its attacks. It jumps around everywhere faster than you can move, it spams a nearly one shot pebble blast that is hard to dodge, or it's breathing fire on you. I've come so close to beating him about 10 times or more and then he spams the pebble attack from out of nowhere that kills me. 

At least I learned that you can just run from the site of grace you respawn at and run past all of the dudes who also cast glintstone attacks on you. 

I'm tempted to just move on, but the glutton for punishment in me just has to beat this thing. 

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I am terrible at this game. Still enjoying it. I’ve made it through Stormveil and started mucking about Raya Lucaria, but I may have hit my skill limit. Went back to exploring stuff I missed in Limgrave/Mistwood/Weeping Peninsula. I’m getting bodied by some of those bosses, too. I’m way overleveled for the area, but I’m just bad at the game. 

Not sure there’s ever been a franchise that I *wanted* to be good at more than the From games, but I lack the patience to excel at the combat. I’m around 40 hours, though, so I feel like I got my money’s worth even if I drop it tomorrow…

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I beat that giant fire wolf thing in Raya Lucaria. As a reward, and still without a nearby site of grace, I was greeted by a named black knight that hit me harder than the bull that hit Johnny Knoxville. 

All of Raya Lucaria can eat me. 

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To follow up on how much Raya Lucaria can eat me, instead of going into that area with the black knight, I found another nearby area with a portal to a church and I was able to REACH OUT AND TOUCH GRACE at it so that works for me. Time for me to wander into somewhere else.

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I am at the last boss. I have reached phase 2 of the last boss one time out of 20 attempts. I have also never gotten to the last boss of a Souls game before, so that's neat.

The First Phase seems like a learnable thing, it's just that I'm struggling with reading timing on some big attacks. I find that a common thing this game does is that the camera faints a movement that their body doesn't make. It's a vicious trick, and it's ingenious, because technically they're slower attacks, you're just getting mentally juked.

For anyone looking for some kind of measurement of the time investment to reach the last boss, it took me about 92 hours, and I'm currently level 122. I skipped large chunks of the side content (namely one of the rivers, volcano manor, and all of the hidden areas). I can imagine myself doing two more playthroughs (one Max Poise/Shield run, one where my entire goal is a sword that is a callback to other From Soft games) but honestly after I finish the first one I'm going to take a break to mainline another game.

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I beat the game for the first time in about 70 hours but I skipped a MASSIVE amount of side content, I could have easily gone for 100

I'm not posting a lot more on it for now because literally all of it would be spoilers for other people, but yeah this game rules save for one boss I hated (it was *that* duo fight, if you've beaten the game you know).

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2 hours ago, Death From Above said:

I beat the game for the first time in about 70 hours but I skipped a MASSIVE amount of side content, I could have easily gone for 100

I'm not posting a lot more on it for now because literally all of it would be spoilers for other people, but yeah this game rules save for one boss I hated (it was *that* duo fight, if you've beaten the game you know).

That fight tormented me until I decided to change my strategy to the silliest thing I could think of, and that worked the first time I tried it.

Spoiler

Sword of St. Trina +10, since I was running out of lillies for sleep pots/arrows

 

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Yeah that's 100% a thing.

Spoiler

There are actually multiple sleep states, the one that destroys that fight and one that is essentially a long glorified stagger. I didn't use this trick myself but for those that did, thank goodnees The Big Sleep works there.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I finally started this, I am about 30 hours in. Making decent progress, I do think its one of the easier From Software games (low bar) just due to the super friendly fast travel and death revival spots. Its extremely rare for me to lose my runes for good as between the friendly grace spots, stakes of marika, and the horse I can almost always safely get back to where I was. I know those things get less friendly as the game goes on, but man I remember From Software games before fast travel, or with really shitty fast travel rules so this almost feels like an ubisoft game in that regard. For all the complaints about how hard it is, From Software made a major adjustment from their original games in this regard. And no, this is not a complaint, love me some fast travel.

My current issue is that my build/play style isn't tenable. Its working for me for now because I am *good* at it (and I have wolfie summons) but I know as I get to the harder bosses that I need to adjust it. The issue is I am a shield/sword guy with med load so I can roll, but I don't parry. Never been a parry guy. So its dumb I am a shield guy without being a parry guy but I am shield-reliant in From Software games. Anyway I need to make some adjustments at some point, in the meantime I'll just keep rolling along. Two big bosses down, onto the next.

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I’ve taken a break from the game to try and finish Horizon Zero Dawn. Every time I now try to go back to Elden Ring, my brain is like, do you reeeeeaaaally want to play this - you could just go to bed instead.

And so I just go to bed.

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I’ve put so much more time into this than I ever have another From game, but I think I’ve hit the wall. I finally took down the boss that guards the door to the Capital, but it took so damn long. If y’all can dodge his lightning attacks, you are far better gamers than me!

I approach so much of the exploration with a sense of awe, but really, I don’t think I could say that I’m having *fun*. And I know that’s a me thing rather than a fault with the game. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I killed my third big boss so that was nice. Have you ever walked into a cave or separate area, took one look at it and was like nope, nope nope nope I've played enough Fromsoft games to know what is about to happen. (this is just a screengrab from youtube for dramatic effect, not my character)

Spoiler

WQwsfIJ.jpg

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm still plugging along, four of the super bosses are down. This map is so big. I got the Mimic Tear which is nice. One advantage of open world is a few times I've run into a mini-boss that was too tough, so I just use a marker on the map to remind myself to come back later. Then I circle back after I've gained 20 levels or so. Currently have two bosses I can't beat (well, maybe I could after 30 tries but that's not fun), will try again in a bit. I know of two places I can still go, but my level is already quite high (I am level 113) so possible I'm just not very good at the game. Still, plugging along.

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I went ahead and beat the game tonight. I know there are several areas I haven't covered well (or at all...) and some bosses I skipped, but I am a firm believer in playing a game until its fun and when the fun is waning its time to go. So I just wrapped it up in a few hours and am calling it a day, even though I didn't encounter some of the more "popular" parts of the game. The final boss took me 13 tries, which isn't great but at least they put a Grace right next to the gate so no real time was lost. I don't know how I'd rate it, I need to think about it. It was fantastically designed and put together, and the story was vague enough that even if something didn't make perfect sense it didn't really matter. But a few of the areas were unnecessarily hard, some enemies I legit never beat as they weren't worth it, the side missions were unclear/easy to miss, and if it ended a few areas sooner I wouldn't have complained. Still fun though, I guess 8/10 but it did have that epic feel that I enjoy, an easy recommend for anyone into Souls games.

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So I'm thinking about getting this game but wanted to ask a few questions. I feel comfortable asking people in this forum as everyone here is civil and won't be a "git gud" type asshole.

Just how hard is this game? I've heard it's like Dark Souls, which I've never played but heard that the difficulty is frustrating. I don't mind a challenge but also don't want to be hitting my head against a wall playing a game that's unnecessarily hard.
What other games is this similar to? I've looked at some videos and the combat sort of seems akin to Shadows of Mordor or AC Valhalla. Am I totally off base with that?
Is the learning curve to being competent really steep? I get about an hour or two of gaming every couple of nights as I have a 5 year old so I just want to know how long it takes to sort of get the mechanics of the game down.

Thanks in advance!

Edited by cwoy2j
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