Elden Ring

[Ryan81]

As much as I initially hated Lies of P, I decided to play Demon's Souls remake and couldn't stop playing. Didn't matter that I was pretty useless to begin with. Have put in 31 hours and have completed 5 % Reached the Scrapped Watchman in Lies of P.
Think I have found my masochistic side 🤣
I'm now loving these soulslike games, doesn't matter if I die 50 times doing the same thing again and again. Have installed Elden Ring so looking forward to it.

 

[Spacegoat]

So I did indeed get Elden Ring for Christmas. Just ticked over 40hrs in. Enjoying it but it maybe took about 8-10hrs to get fully into it. As cool as the open world is, it feels a little directionless? At least at the beginning anyway (Maybe that's more on me though for not fully paying attention to the story or what the NPC's are talking about. lol). As soon as I started playing with a map open on the laptop, so I could see the points of interest. It started to gel a lot more.

My build so far. Went with the Vagabond class as it seemed to be a pretty good all rounder to start off with. Mainly focused on strength but have popped some points into intelligence to have some kind of a ranged attack. Even if it is fairly weak.

 

[Spacegoat]

Closing in on 60hrs now. About to get started exploring the Altus Plateau section of the map. Just wanted to say that the Valiant Gargoyle's can go and get absolutely bent. By far the worst Boss I've encountered so far. Even worse than Starscourge Radahn (which admittedly I made a lot easier by summoning two randoms to help, who did the majority of the work ). Finally was able to beat them by summoning an NPC and using my Mimic Tear. Thankfully that was enough to distract the second Gargoyle just long enough for me to get rid of the first. So relived to be done with that fight. It gets easy from here, right?

 

[Ryan81]

Closing in on 60hrs now. About to get started exploring the Altus Plateau section. Just wanted to say that the Valiant Gargoyle's can go and get absolutely bent. By far the worst Boss I've encountered so far. Even worse than Starscourge Radahn (which admittedly I made a lot easier by summoning two randoms to help, who did the majority of the work ). Finally was able to beat them by summoning an NPC and using my Mimic Tear. Thankfully that as enough to distract the second Gargoyle just long enough for me to get rid of the first. So relived to be done with that fight.

I always wondered if summoning phantoms to help you defeat bosses is the way these games are truly meant to be played or if the whole online experience has been designed to make life easier?
I did this in Lies of P for the third boss and then it seemed like too much of a walkover. On the other hand, when I defeated Armour Spider and Tower Knight in Demon's Souls I felt such a sense of achievement.
Though I will admit, I was levelling up beyond the recommended soul level when I fought them 😉 so they were slightly easier to cope with.

 

[Spacegoat]

I always wondered if summoning phantoms to help you defeat bosses is the way these games are truly meant to be played or if the whole online experience has been designed to make life easier?
I did this in Lies of P for the third boss and then it seemed like too much of a walkover. On the other hand, when I defeated Armour Spider and Tower Knight in Demon's Souls I felt such a sense of achievement.
Though I will admit, I was levelling up beyond the recommended soul level when I fought them 😉 so they were slightly easier to cope with.

Guess it comes down to personal play style. Did Demon Souls, DS1 and Bloodborne completely solo (over leveling was my way of getting thru them too. Except with the Armoured Spidered which I cheesed with arrows. ). DS3 I ended up summoning a random for help with the final two bosses. I agree nothing at all beats the sense of achievement you get from these games, with finally beating a difficult boss you've been stuck on for ages. But summons are there for a reason. Don't think there is too much wrong with using them to help.

I'm also way too impatient to spend hours doing the same boss over and over again.

 

[Ryan81]

Guess it comes down to personal play style. Did Demon Souls, DS1 and Bloodborne completely solo (over leveling was my way of getting thru them too. Except with the Armoured Spidered which I cheesed with arrows. ). DS3 I ended up summoning a random for help with the final two bosses. I agree nothing at all beats the sense of achievement you get from these games, with finally beating a difficult boss you've been stuck on for ages. But summons are there for a reason. Don't think there is too much wrong with using them to help.

I'm also way too impatient to spend hours doing the same boss over and over again.

Actually, the Armour Spider was far worse for me than Tower Knight. It's getting close enough to it which was the tricky part. At least with the Tower Knight, you have plenty of space to play with.

I eventually managed to find a safe spot on the left directly in front of it by a wooden post. Camped there briefly and then divebombed with my +6 Falchion. Sliced through his armour pretty easily.

But I'm totally in agreement with you when it comes to bosses and summons. If I find I'm doing the same boss time after time, I get fed up eventually 🤣

 

[Meythia]

I always wondered if summoning phantoms to help you defeat bosses is the way these games are truly meant to be played or if the whole online experience has been designed to make life easier?

You are supposed to use the tools that are present - that includes the summons.
But you may make it as unnecessarily difficult as you want.

In Demon Souls the worst boss definitly was the Flamelurker with his absurd levels of aggression, that was close to Bloodborne in general.
Everything else in comparision cant be called anything but easy 😜

 

[Ryan81]

You are supposed to use the tools that are present - that includes the summons.
But you may make it as unnecessarily difficult as you want.

In Demon Souls the worst boss definitly was the Flamelurker with his absurd levels of aggression, that was close to Bloodborne in general.
Everything else in comparision cant be called anything but easy 😜

Yep, I heard that about the Flamelurker. Although I did see a video where a guy kept all the way to the right when entering the fog and the Flamelurker just stood there. Even when he started slashing, he didn't react....

Not sure how hard or easy the other bosses are but they're challenging enough for me 🤣 Mind you, DS and Lies of P are the only soulslike games I've played. Still learning a lot about their mechanics. However, when I began Elden Ring, everything felt so much easier and more familiar.

 

[Meythia]

Although I did see a video where a guy kept all the way to the right when entering the fog and the Flamelurker just stood there

This is the games easy mode

Spoiler: part 1

equip this

then enter boss room and go behind.

Spoiler: part 2

Then simply use poison cloud.
As this spell is not considered an attack, the boss will not look around from where he is attacked but simply lose hp until defeat.
The same method can be used on a few other "difficult" bosses.

 

[Ryan81]

See, I never knew you could hop over wooden fences in DS. Absolutely no tutorial to tell you. Just found out on a YouTube video. I didn't even know how to hold a weapon or shield with both hands.
It was only thanks to the tutorial in Elden Ring that I found the same controls worked for DS.

 

[Spacegoat]

Actually, the Armour Spider was far worse for me than Tower Knight. It's getting close enough to it which was the tricky part. At least with the Tower Knight, you have plenty of space to play with.

Yeah, Tower Knight isn't bad. Altho strangely in my second playthough of DS. He took me around 6 tries, vs the two attempts I did the first time. Armour Spider was just a pain. Could not for the life of me get even remotely close to him. Found the cheese where you can stand behind a pillar, just to the left of the fog door after you enter, and hammer him with arrows.

But I'm totally in agreement with you when it comes to bosses and summons. If I find I'm doing the same boss time after time, I get fed up eventually 🤣

Don't know if you have started Elden Ring yet so I won't spoil the Valiant Gargoyle fight completely. That one just felt a little unfair with a certain attack they would perform. Its ones like that I just end up getting really frustrated with.

In Demon Souls the worst boss definitly was the Flamelurker with his absurd levels of aggression, that was close to Bloodborne in general.
Everything else in comparision cant be called anything but easy 😜

I'd put the Maneater above the Flamelurker. Felt that fight was more difficult (albeit a bit broken) but overall yeah, there's maybe only three or four bosses in DS that I'd say are even remotely hard.

 

[Ryan81]

Yeah, Tower Knight isn't bad. Altho strangely in my second playthough of DS. He took me around 6 tries, vs the two attempts I did the first time. Armour Spider was just a pain. Could not for the life of me get even remotely close to him. Found the cheese where you can stand behind a pillar, just to the left of the fog door after you enter, and hammer him with arrows.


Don't know if you have started Elden Ring yet so I won't spoil the Valiant Gargoyle fight completely. That one just felt a little unfair with a certain attack they would perform. Its ones like that I just end up getting really frustrated with.


I'd put the Maneater above the Flamelurker. Felt that fight was more difficult (albeit a bit broken) but overall yeah, there's maybe only three or four bosses in DS that I'd say are even remotely hard.

I found the first thing the Armour Spider would do is shoot web at you as soon as entering the fog door. I just rolled or lurched diagonally left or right. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not.
Then avoided the fireballs, shield up the whole time and got right in front of him to the left.
Then it makes the melee attack so much easier. Also tried cheesing with arrows but hardly did anything. Would have needed an absolute ton of them 🙄

I started Elden Ring a few days ago. Died by the yellow tree at the beginning against the Scion Griffon or whatever he's called. Then killed the knight in the underground cave and have just emerged at the entrance looking down over a valley with the yellow tree slightly in the distance. I read it's not a good idea to head there straight away 🤣
Looking forward to the whole open world aspect. That's something which is unique to ER over DS, Lies of P and Bloodborne. Should make for a more diverse and interesting experience.