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[DelireMan7]

Appreciate the advice, DelireMan7 -

I decided to use the medallion. Been exploring the Consecrated Snowfields. A bit of a mixed opinion on this area so far. Its horrifying and cinematic to have like - a giant bear/Dragonkin Warrior appear out of a whiteout blizzard. Or to suddenly realize all those locked-on enemies you can't see is a massive convoy approaching through the snow. These are memorable moments. In actual practice though the blizzard portion of the Snowfields is a bit tedious - thank god From had the good sense not to make the entire area with that visibility. Plus ... it brings back DS2 Crown of the Ivory King PTSD. If I see a fucking reindeer I swear ...

Started by making my way to the mine on the map and blew through it. Confidently entered the boss arena and was met by a repeat boss in Astel. This one was so much harder, took me a good while.

Kept exploring the western edge and happened upon a sleeping bear, larger than most of the one's I'd seen. Decided to try my luck in case he had a good item ... tough fight, I SUCK at the bears. No items but the fight made me accidentally fall of a cliff and on to a teleporter in the middle of nowhere. Took it of course. Guess I found the Palace I've been staring at from Siofra for 100+hours. Holy shit, this game. Explains the lone Sanguine Noble invader way out in the dead forest in the Snowfields. Was curious about him, nice touch.

Made it through the beginning, a threepeat invasion from Whitemask Varre and what I hope is the final swamp level of the game. Stopped after dying a few times to the double Sanguine Noble fight.

Finally making progress here as we approach the 10-month anniversary of the game. What an absolute epic.

Haha.

This arrival at the palace is pretty rough. The crows in the blood pool are a nightmare for me.

Anything after the use of the medallion is brutal xD.

 

[Rex_DX]

Haha.

This arrival at the palace is pretty rough. The crows in the blood pool are a nightmare for me.

Anything after the use of the medallion is brutal xD.

Oh man so I'm seeing. It's been mostly good fun though.

I cleaned up a little business in Caelid and went through Lake of Rot not too long ago and I think my lizard brain had tricked me into just assuming all red swamps cause crazy Scarlet Rot buildup.

I had nearly cleared the whole zone before I realized I'd basically been playing "the floor is lava."

Trying to fight Varre three times without rolling off the shore was NOT FUN.

Right at the end I was like riiiiight. BLOOD magic.

I'm a dumbass.

 

[Soodanim]

I SUCK at the bears

Most people do, but people slowly realised that if you get up close it's easier to avoid some of his attacks. Stay close and strafe.

 

[ntropy]

on my first playthrough (actually first FROM game)

going pure melee, so it's been a wild ride.
it's hilarious to think how i struggled with foot soldiers in Stormveil and now dueling with Malenia 1v1

this game is crack.
i love the aesthetics and the scale of the world.
and i like how it leaves you the fuck alone with minimal prompts and lets you explore

 

[Rex_DX]

on my first playthrough (actually first FROM game)

going pure melee, so it's been a wild ride.
it's hilarious to think how i struggled with foot soldiers in Stormveil and now dueling with Malenia 1v1

this game is crack.
i love the aesthetics and the scale of the world.
and i like how it leaves you the fuck alone with minimal prompts and lets you explore

I'll be starting the Haligtree in my next few hours of gameplay. Wish me luck.

Congrats on your first FROM game. They are quite good.

 

[Rex_DX]

Hoped to make some good progress tonight but after a very accidental and surprising teleport to Moghwyn Palace last night I spent my whole session trying to solo Mohg.

Thought Lord of Blood would be similar to Mogh, The Omen and kind of a pushover but nope.

Finally got him after 20+ tries several of which were a hit or two away from victory. Hadn't come that close to considering a respec this whole game. Still for the life of me am not sure how to avoid the triple bleed effect blast as he enters his second form. I basically just chugged Estus through it.

Played from 2-4am after work and all I've got to show for it is a dead Mogh.

Also - am I right in thinking Miquella's cocoon doesn't do anything? Or yet? Or without an item or gesture I'm missing? Ofnir's dialogue is pretty pointedly telling you to destroy it. Or is this a breadcrumb for DLC I wonder.

 

[DelireMan7]

Finally got him after 20+ tries several of which were a hit or two away from victory. Hadn't come that close to considering a respec this whole game. Still for the life of me am not sure how to avoid the triple bleed effect blast as he enters his second form. I basically just chugged Estus through it.

There is a mixed physick components to avoid it. You could miss it : you get it after an invasion of NPC (on Altus Plateau), which I think is part of Hunter Yura's quest

I did the same as you the first time

EDIT : Well done on beating him. One of the most challenging boss (and still enjoyable to me, looking at you Malenia).

Also - am I right in thinking Miquella's cocoon doesn't do anything? Or yet? Or without an item or gesture I'm missing? Ofnir's dialogue is pretty pointedly telling you to destroy it. Or is this a breadcrumb for DLC I wonder.

I thought the same and tried stuff. But to my knowledge there is nothing to be done (yet ?). The Gideon's dialog might be cut content or DLC related. It also made me very suspicious about the cocoon.

 

[Rex_DX]

There is a mixed physick components to avoid it. You could miss it : you get it after an invasion of NPC (on Altus Plateau), which I think is part of Hunter Yura's quest

I did the same as you the first time

EDIT : Well done on beating him. One of the most challenging boss (and still enjoyable to me, looking at you Malenia).

I thought the same and tried stuff. But to my knowledge there is nothing to be done (yet ?). The Gideon's dialog might be cut content or DLC related. It also made me very suspicious about the cocoon.

Ah of course the physick. I probably missed it. I botched Yura's quest sadly. Not sure if I could've saved him from hosting Shabriri but here we are.

The only side quests the I believe I still have going are Alexander, Millicent and Brother Corhyn (rather pleased with myself on the last one - kind of obscure).

Anyway with Mogh down I'm back to the Consecrated Snowfield tonight. Discovered an out of the way Catacomb in the blizzard area at the end of my last session. Nice signposting. Noticed a nearly invisible path and sure enough it led to a Catacomb with crazy ice breath totems.

Also as to Miquella's Cocoon - I want 24/7 camera coverage on that thing and if anything moves we nuke it from space.

 

[mansoor1980]

 

[ValiantTraveler]

Also - am I right in thinking Miquella's cocoon doesn't do anything? Or yet? Or without an item or gesture I'm missing? Ofnir's dialogue is pretty pointedly telling you to destroy it. Or is this a breadcrumb for DLC I wonder.

There's nothing Miquella does and nothing you can do to it. Miquella is a strong contender for a DLC boss and lore dump, I really want to see what's hiding inside that decrepit cocoon.

 

[Rex_DX]

There's nothing Miquella does and nothing you can do to it. Miquella is a strong contender for a DLC boss and lore dump, I really want to see what's hiding inside that decrepit cocoon.

... I don't. Kill it with fire now!

 

[Rex_DX]

Just hit level 150. Pretty satisfied with my build. I'm tempted to stop leveling now because 150 seems ... well just really high after playing the meta with Souls games.

That said - the game has started just dumping runes on me. Like regular mobs are dropping 2K - 16K and I just stomped an Erdtree Guardian boss who threw me 180K. Easily enough for a level and a half. This is about 80% finished with Consecrated Snowfield. No Haligtree yet.

On the other hand, I haven't farmed at all. I've checked a couple maps of previous areas up to the Snowfield and I've been pretty thorough. I've discovered about 95% of the Sites of Grace in the previous areas although no doubt I've missed some stuff. Just hit 160 hours played.

All this is to say that I might keep leveling just to see what level a soft core completionist run with zero farming puts me at. This isn't a PvP build by any means although I've done a fair bit of that along the way for fun.

I'm conflicted on this.

 

[DelireMan7]

Just hit level 150. Pretty satisfied with my build. I'm tempted to stop leveling now because 150 seems ... well just really high after playing the meta with Souls games.

That said - the game has started just dumping runes on me. Like regular mobs are dropping 2K - 16K and I just stomped an Erdtree Guardian boss who threw me 180K. Easily enough for a level and a half. This is about 80% finished with Consecrated Snowfield. No Haligtree yet.

On the other hand, I haven't farmed at all. I've checked a couple maps of previous areas up to the Snowfield and I've been pretty thorough. I've discovered about 95% of the Sites of Grace in the previous areas although no doubt I've missed some stuff. Just hit 160 hours played.

All this is to say that I might keep leveling just to see what level a soft core completionist run with zero farming puts me at. This isn't a PvP build by any means although I've done a fair bit of that along the way for fun.

I'm conflicted on this.

I ended up at level 169 without farming but meticulous exploration.

From now on, most of the boss will drop massive amount of runes.

You'll naturally still gain quite some lvl.

Stats are worth investing till 80 (compare to 40 in previous games). So if you don't aim for meta pvp, you can still lvl up.

 

[Soodanim]

Hoped to make some good progress tonight but after a very accidental and surprising teleport to Moghwyn Palace last night I spent my whole session trying to solo Mohg.

Thought Lord of Blood would be similar to Mogh, The Omen and kind of a pushover but nope.

Finally got him after 20+ tries several of which were a hit or two away from victory. Hadn't come that close to considering a respec this whole game. Still for the life of me am not sure how to avoid the triple bleed effect blast as he enters his second form. I basically just chugged Estus through it.

Played from 2-4am after work and all I've got to show for it is a dead Mogh.

Also - am I right in thinking Miquella's cocoon doesn't do anything? Or yet? Or without an item or gesture I'm missing? Ofnir's dialogue is pretty pointedly telling you to destroy it. Or is this a breadcrumb for DLC I wonder.

I can relate to every word of this, this is all how it went for me! Mohg was tough to say the least, and I got the anti-Mohg thing long after. Learned through a lot of trial and error that chugging estus is the only way, which obviously eats a chunk of your healing potential. God knows I needed plenty of healing against his delayed attacks and blood fire.

The weird thing about Mohg is that some people can destroy him so hard that he never gets into phase two. Mohg's shackle helps get hits in before the half way point, and he's oddly susceptible to bleed.

 

[Rex_DX]

I can relate to every word of this, this is all how it went for me! Mohg was tough to say the least, and I got the anti-Mohg thing long after. Learned through a lot of trial and error that chugging estus is the only way, which obviously eats a chunk of your healing potential. God knows I needed plenty of healing against his delayed attacks and blood fire.

The weird thing about Mohg is that some people can destroy him so hard that he never gets into phase two. Mohg's shackle helps get hits in before the half way point, and he's oddly susceptible to bleed.

It struck me about five minutes after I finally beat him that I had picked up Mogh's Shackle in the Leyndell Sewers like two dozen hours previous. Not sure I would have used it much though. I tried using Margit/Morgott's Shackle early on and it seemed to be more of a distraction than a boon. Although I was willing to try just about everything against Mohg including damn near respeccing so I probably would've given it a shot had my memory served me.

Cool we had similar experiences!

I ended up at level 169 without farming but meticulous exploration.

From now on, most of the boss will drop massive amount of runes.

You'll naturally still gain quite some lvl.

Stats are worth investing till 80 (compare to 40 in previous games). So if you don't aim for meta pvp, you can still lvl up.

Yeah I don't know for sure how much game I have left but I've hit 157 since my last post and I could see getting to 169 by the end. Neat 80 is the new hard cap but I've been seeing some pretty major diminishing returns around 50 for STR/DEX and even lower for MND and something else.

One thing I always do in these games is hoard the useable-souls items - in this game something like a Lord's Rune, or in Souls, Soul of a Banished Knight, etc. - until I'm fairly close to a level up in a safe spot near a bonfire. I'll even splurge on those big 25-50K runes and dump like 100K if I have to if I have a bad feeling about what's coming up. This way I feel like I got a free level-up and can move forward with no real risk. I haven't lost a massive amount of runes yet. I'm sure I'm not alone in this strategy but over 160 hours lost runes must add up. Might explain higher levels by end-game.

 

[Rex_DX]

I was kind of soured on the Haligtree from the beginning area with the Envoys, ants and all the branch hopping. I was looking at this big circular map and thinking it would basically be like this for the whole dungeon. It just kept getting better and better the deeper I went.

Finally hit Elphael. Holy shit. I was not expecting this in the slightest. Just when I thought I'd pretty much seen it all (yeah, I had Farum Azula spoiled for me way back when due to taking a portal from the Three Belfries there) this game just throws this massive area at me and so much of it is fresh. Specifically all the architecture in the area between the branches and the actual city. Very Tolkien. White knuckled it through the whole city in one run with minimal death but several close-calls. Still need to check out the ground-level courtyard where I saw a Revenent but I made it to the Inner Wall of Elphael and defeated every major enemy on the upper walls and found a ton of secrets.

Really love this area. Hopefully the back half won't completely disappoint!

Also, I can't be alone in noticing that the entire city is covered in spider-egg-looking cocoons just like the "dead" Miquella is inside in Moghwyn Palace, right? Gotta be a connection there.

 

[DelireMan7]

Yeah I don't know for sure how much game I have left but I've hit 157 since my last post and I could see getting to 169 by the end.

Yes you will reach this level. Just with the runes from major bosses remaining you will get around 10 lvl I would say.

I also use to hoard consumables souls/runes till I saw a friend of mine systematically use everything each time he reaches a bonfire.
Now I am much less saving runes and use most of them quickly.

 

[DelireMan7]

I was kind of soured on the Haligtree from the beginning area with the Envoys, ants and all the branch hopping. I was looking at this big circular map and thinking it would basically be like this for the whole dungeon. It just kept getting better and better the deeper I went.

Finally hit Elphael. Holy shit. I was not expecting this in the slightest. Just when I thought I'd pretty much seen it all (yeah, I had Farum Azula spoiled for me way back when due to taking a portal from the Three Belfries there) this game just throws this massive area at me and so much of it is fresh. Specifically all the architecture in the area between the branches and the actual city. Very Tolkien. White knuckled it through the whole city in one run with minimal death but several close-calls. Still need to check out the ground-level courtyard where I saw a Revenent but I made it to the Inner Wall of Elphael and defeated every major enemy on the upper walls and found a ton of secrets.

Really love this area. Hopefully the back half won't completely disappoint!

Also, I can't be alone in noticing that the entire city is covered in spider-egg-looking cocoons just like the "dead" Miquella is inside in Moghwyn Palace, right? Gotta be a connection there.

I get you. The whole area is impressive. I didn't expect something that big.

Good luck for the courtyard

I didn't pay attention to the cocoons. Interesting. Must go back to check that.

 

[Rex_DX]

It's 430 in the morning and ... I just beat Malenia.

*sobs*

 

[gaming_again]

Just hit level 150. Pretty satisfied with my build. I'm tempted to stop leveling now because 150 seems ... well just really high after playing the meta with Souls games.

That said - the game has started just dumping runes on me. Like regular mobs are dropping 2K - 16K and I just stomped an Erdtree Guardian boss who threw me 180K. Easily enough for a level and a half. This is about 80% finished with Consecrated Snowfield. No Haligtree yet.

On the other hand, I haven't farmed at all. I've checked a couple maps of previous areas up to the Snowfield and I've been pretty thorough. I've discovered about 95% of the Sites of Grace in the previous areas although no doubt I've missed some stuff. Just hit 160 hours played.

All this is to say that I might keep leveling just to see what level a soft core completionist run with zero farming puts me at. This isn't a PvP build by any means although I've done a fair bit of that along the way for fun.

I'm conflicted on this.

Same.
I’m at level 160. I really want to play ng+ and get to level 200 or so but that DLC…

 

[gaming_again]

I was kind of soured on the Haligtree from the beginning area with the Envoys, ants and all the branch hopping. I was looking at this big circular map and thinking it would basically be like this for the whole dungeon. It just kept getting better and better the deeper I went.

Finally hit Elphael. Holy shit. I was not expecting this in the slightest. Just when I thought I'd pretty much seen it all (yeah, I had Farum Azula spoiled for me way back when due to taking a portal from the Three Belfries there) this game just throws this massive area at me and so much of it is fresh. Specifically all the architecture in the area between the branches and the actual city. Very Tolkien. White knuckled it through the whole city in one run with minimal death but several close-calls. Still need to check out the ground-level courtyard where I saw a Revenent but I made it to the Inner Wall of Elphael and defeated every major enemy on the upper walls and found a ton of secrets.

Really love this area. Hopefully the back half won't completely disappoint!

Also, I can't be alone in noticing that the entire city is covered in spider-egg-looking cocoons just like the "dead" Miquella is inside in Moghwyn Palace, right? Gotta be a connection there.

Yup. It really opens up into what I think is the best area in the game.

 

[Rex_DX]

Did a second pass through Elphael last night. Discovered a massive secret graveyard and a couple other hidden areas. That bottom level with FOUR Revenents would have been really dicey if I hadn't discovered the heal trick by accident 100 hours ago.

This is a contender for my favorite area of the game.

Kind of accidentally stumbled upon Millicent in the Drainage Channel. I believe I completed her quest ... is there a way to finish it without her death?

From there it was into the roots and onto everyone's favorite boss to hate - Malenia.

I tried to solo this girl. I must've dumped 25 attempts into it. First phase was never an issue but the second phase is a ball-buster and after soloing Mogh the night before I just didn't have the patience or desire to torture myself with perfect levels of play, even a bit over-leveled as I am.

Decided to summon a human since the area is still super active. If on the off-chance a double Greatsword user wearing Goldmask's Mask named Fel is a member here - THANK YOU.

This was some of the best jolly cooperation I've encountered in the game so far. I summoned this person and we came one hit away from victory on the first attempt but I got cornered and died.

For the next thirty minutes Fel kept dropping their summon sign in the same spot and continued to back me up. We came close every time and finally found victory on our ninth attempt. When we finally did it we were both just jumping up and down in the middle of the arena. Nice effort from a stranger. Souls at its very best.

Spent another hour mopping up all my icons on the world map. Took down the dragon on the bridge to the Bestial Sanctum, three Bell-Bearing hunters, and finished a Rise puzzle I'd abandoned. No more icons and I'm at peace with my build.

On to Farum Azula tonight. The end is within reach!

 

[Soodanim]

Did a second pass through Elphael last night. Discovered a massive secret graveyard and a couple other hidden areas. That bottom level with FOUR Revenents would have been really dicey if I hadn't discovered the heal trick by accident 100 hours ago.

This is a contender for my favorite area of the game.

Kind of accidentally stumbled upon Millicent in the Drainage Channel. I believe I completed her quest ... is there a way to finish it without her death?

From there it was into the roots and onto everyone's favorite boss to hate - Malenia.

I tried to solo this girl. I must've dumped 25 attempts into it. First phase was never an issue but the second phase is a ball-buster and after soloing Mogh the night before I just didn't have the patience or desire to torture myself with perfect levels of play, even a bit over-leveled as I am.

Decided to summon a human since the area is still super active. If on the off-chance a double Greatsword user wearing Goldmask's Mask named Fel is a member here - THANK YOU.

This was some of the best jolly cooperation I've encountered in the game so far. I summoned this person and we came one hit away from victory on the first attempt but I got cornered and died.

For the next thirty minutes Fel kept dropping their summon sign in the same spot and continued to back me up. We came close every time and finally found victory on our ninth attempt. When we finally did it we were both just jumping up and down in the middle of the arena. Nice effort from a stranger. Souls at its very best.

Spent another hour mopping up all my icons on the world map. Took down the dragon on the bridge to the Bestial Sanctum, three Bell-Bearing hunters, and finished a Rise puzzle I'd abandoned. No more icons and I'm at peace with my build.

On to Farum Azula tonight. The end is within reach!

To answer your Millicent question: no. She dies either way, but each gets a good talisman. You'll need to NG+ and do it all again for the one you didn't pick this time.

Malenia takes some learning. She's well reach of course, but the only way to avoid the thing that makes her OP is learning how to avoid being touched, which is a tall order. It's a bit late now, but if you do it again it might be worth doing some practicing against her just to get used to rolling different ways. Some attacks can only be dodged by rolling forward because of her reach, which always got me.

When it comes to the world map, there will undoubtedly be things you missed, so after you finish the boss and get the choice of NG+ I recommend comparing your map to one on a wiki and checking some sort of equipment list, then filling in any gaps. You're not going to want to exploring everything fresh again, and you might even get a few toys to play with.

Then, before you go into NG+ (if you do), decide if you want to respec. It saves waiting until you beat Renalla again, if that's what you want to do.

But you're not there yet, so have fun in Farum!

 

[gaming_again]

Look up ONBAL for how to avoid water fowl.

And also just for the best YouTube channel that has ever existed or ever will exist. All hail. ONGBAL.

 

[Rex_DX]

In one sitting I: took down several small dragons, Placudisax, Godskin Duo, a Draconic Tree Sentinel, Maliketh, Gideon Ofnir, Godfrey/Hoarah Loux, and then Radagon/Elden Beast.

Finished at level 174 and 188 hours of playtime with a FTH/DEX build.
It took me nine months (with 6 months of hiatus due to 60-80 hour work weeks) and was the perfect game of perseverance to complement a really difficult year which required perseverance in the real world.

I'll 100% be jumping back in for another run with a new character but only after a break. I think something that isn't an RPG, third person or open world is on the menu now.

This was literally my game of the year as it's basically the only game I've touched since February 24th.

What a fucking game.

 

[NeverYouMind]

I am happy you received your money's worth.

 

[midasmulligan]

Beat the game a month or so ago haven’t touched it as I have been waiting for the strategy guide to arrive. Tomorrows the day I’m going to start cleaning up this b*tch

 

[ntropy]

i'm really digging the mysterious, cryptic nature of the story and consequently the lore

will we ever get clarity on some things?
for example, why does Gideon attempt to thwart the Tarnish from becoming Elden Lord?
and what exactly was the sequence of events of the Shattering?

 

[Trazyn the Infinite]

i'm really digging the mysterious, cryptic nature of the story and consequently the lore

will we ever get clarity on some things?
for example, why does Gideon attempt to thwart the Tarnish from becoming Elden Lord?
and what exactly was the sequence of events of the Shattering?

Everything gets explained, though some things are left for your own interpretation (namely who is good/evil/etc). Elden Ring and the souls games tend to have the best way to deliver stories IMO and they do it masterfully here.

 

[Fake]

for example, why does Gideon attempt to thwart the Tarnish from becoming Elden Lord?

I guess Gideon tried once to became the Elden Lord long time ago, but now he follow the Elden Ring conservative method... method that make Queen Marika break the elden ring and get punished for do it. He act more like a spy to make sure the candidates follow the will of the two fingers ideia. When he discover that you instead of following your fate are trying to destroy the tree and force to be in (remember that the tree reject your entrace, so you need to burn up the vines to enter), he step up.

The grace just point the possible 'elden lord' candidates, thats not mean they will became Elden Lord. Notice that many candidates got the initial grace, but with time they kinda stop seeing the grace. The road is for the tarnish to make.

Spoiler

Even so there is an ending that you make the Lands Between not have a Elden Lord

 

[rofif]

nice critique. I agree

 

[ValiantTraveler]

nice critique. I agree

This is inherent to all open world games. Once you 100% an open world there is little point to come back to it. Going through it all over again is too time-consuming and tedious. Personally I don’t have the problem with this, I very rarely replay games anyway since there are so many. But playing a game just once doesn’t stop me from loving it to death.

 

[NeverYouMind]

Just throw some mods in that world and away you go.

 

[FeastYoEyes]

Just finished the game. Got stuck on Dragonlord back in August and put it down for a while then came back and summoned my way through the end. Absolutely beautiful game. One I will remember for years.

Is it odd that after taking several breaks through the year and playing it in chunks that I'm a bit nostalgic already when hearing that main theme?

 

[ntropy]

Everything gets explained [...]

what is Marika's motive?
why did she banish Godfrey?
so many questions i have. hope the DLC gives us more clues

 

[NeverYouMind]

Spoiler: Lengthy Explanation

Marika is the female half of a single being with Radagon being the other half (in other words, a single being split into two individuals). Marika and by extension Radagon are chosen as a vessel (because only an Empyrean can act as a vessel) for the Greater Will (an alien entity also known as Elden Beast) to bring the Golden Order to the Lands Between. She makes Godfrey her husband to help protect the Erdtree, which would spread and maintain the Golden Order in the Lands Between by channeling the power of the Elden Ring (an inorganic form of the Elden Beast). She makes herself immortal when she separates the Rune of Death from the Elden Ring and imbues the blade of her shadow (part wolf half-brother), Maliketh, with it for safe keeping. To ensure its success she has her husband lead a military campaign against the fire giants (whose flame would pose a threat to the Erdtree) and she slays their Fell One-Eyed God, who the fire giants keep alive by tending to its flame.

They have three children together. The first child, Godwyn is the spitting image of his father (and the progenitor of the Golden Lineage), but the twins (Morgott and Mohg) born after are omens (horned and beast-like), and are imprisoned underground. When their children reach adulthood their capital is attacked by the dragons lead by Dragonlord Placidusax, who rules the Lands Between. Godwyn defeats and befriends the mighty dragon Fortissax, while his father single-handedly vanquishes the Dragonlord to become the Elden Lord. Having defeated the greatest foe in the land, Godfrey loses his fighting spirit. Marika subsequently banishes Godfrey and his kin from the Lands Between, takes away their ability to use the Guidance of Grace to venture back to the Erdtree, and makes them Tarnished (revive from death endlessly) to grow stronger should they one day be needed again.

Wanting to impose her own order through the power of the Erdtree instead of the Golden Order, she marries Radagon (her other half). She even gives titles to his three offspring (Radahn, Rykard, and Ranni) with the Lunar Queen Renalla, which he abandons to better serve the Greater Will, by joining his other half in the now established capital. They have twins (Miquella and Malenia), which are both cursed (made inbred) by this union. Miquella with the inability to have his body mature and Malenia with internal scarlet rot. As Marika further strays from the Golden Order, the Greater Will begins to prepare Lunar Princess Ranni (born an Empyrean) to be her successor. In an act of rebellion, Ranni steals fragments of the Rune of Death from Maliketh's Blade. To free herself of this fate she ritually destroys her body with one fragment, while assassins close to Marika simultaneously dispatch the spirit of Godwyn with other fragments. Ranni succeeds, but this results in Godwyn becoming the source of corruption that leads to the rise of Those That Live In Death after being buried at the roots of the Erdtree and Marika in her grief turning against the Golden Order.

In a fit of rage Marika shatters the Elden Ring causing her body to merge with Radagon and become imprisoned in the Erdtree while its fragments fly out into the Lands Between. A battle between the demigods for the greater runes ensues, but in the end even those able to gain a great rune are unable to gain entry to the Elden Ring. In a bid to alter her fate Marika returns the Guidance of Grace to the Tarnished and manipulates the Two Fingers (entities controlled by the Elden Ring) to offer guidance and appoint Finger Maidens to the promising Tarnished. However, the Tarnished are unable to measure up to the demi-gods and the feuds of the demi-gods are at a stalemate until your Tarnished comes into the picture.

One of the oldest of those tarnished is Sir Gideon Ofnir, who established the Roundtable Hold. In a bid to acquire the great rune of Miquella after obtaining information (from a network of spies) about a Talisman which grants access to the Haligtree where Miquella is rumored to be, Gideon sends Ensha (his right hand man) and the Omen Killers to retrieve part of it from the Albinautic Village. Having failed in the task, upon learning of your possession of that half of the talisman, Ensha ignores the rules of the Roundtable Hold to obtain it. Ensha dies in the process, but Gideon deducts as much and using his station chooses to have you do the leg work for his ambition of becoming the Elden Lord. He offers you gifts to keep him informed on your progress of obtaining the great runes under the guise of being the keeper of knowledge at the Roundtable Hold. Gideon by the end of the journey is convinced that the throne is unattainable for a Tarnished and it is Marika's will that the Tarnished continue to seek it in vain.

 

[ntropy]

Spoiler: Lengthy Explanation

Marika is the female half of a single being with Radagon being the other half (in other words, a single being split into two individuals). Marika and by extension Radagon are chosen as a vessel (because only an Empyrean can act as a vessel) for the Greater Will (an alien entity also known as Elden Beast) to bring the Golden Order to the Lands Between. She makes Godfrey her husband to help protect the Erdtree, which would spread and maintain the Golden Order in the Lands Between by channeling the power of the Elden Ring (an inorganic form of the Elden Beast). She makes herself immortal when she separates the Rune of Death from the Elden Ring and imbues the blade of her shadow (part wolf half-brother), Maliketh, with it for safe keeping. To ensure its success she has her husband lead a military campaign against the fire giants (whose flame would pose a threat to the Erdtree) and she slays their Fell One-Eyed God, who the fire giants keep alive by tending to its flame.

They have three children together. The first child, Godwyn is the spitting image of his father (and the progenitor of the Golden Lineage), but the twins (Morgott and Mohg) born after are omens (horned and beast-like), and are imprisoned underground. When their children reach adulthood their capital is attacked by the dragons lead by Dragonlord Placidusax, who rules the Lands Between. Godwyn defeats and befriends the mighty dragon Fortissax, while his father single-handedly vanquishes the Dragonlord to become the Elden Lord. Having defeated the greatest foe in the land, Godfrey loses his fighting spirit. Marika subsequently banishes Godfrey and his kin from the Lands Between, takes away their ability to use the Guidance of Grace to venture back to the Erdtree, and makes them Tarnished (revive from death endlessly) to grow stronger should they one day be needed again.

Wanting to impose her own order through the power of the Erdtree instead of the Golden Order, she marries Radagon (her other half). She even gives titles to his three offspring (Radahn, Rykard, and Ranni) with the Lunar Queen Renalla, which he abandons to better serve the Greater Will, by joining his other half in the now established capital. They have twins (Miquella and Malenia), which are both cursed (made inbred) by this union. Miquella with the inability to have his body mature and Malenia with internal scarlet rot. As Marika further strays from the Golden Order, the Greater Will begins to prepare Lunar Princess Ranni (born an Empyrean) to be her successor. In an act of rebellion, Ranni steals fragments of the Rune of Death from Maliketh's Blade. To free herself of this fate she ritually destroys her body with one fragment, while assassins close to Marika simultaneously dispatch the spirit of Godwyn with other fragments. Ranni succeeds, but this results in Godwyn becoming the source of corruption that leads to the rise of Those That Live In Death after being buried at the roots of the Erdtree and Marika in her grief turning against the Golden Order.

In a fit of rage Marika shatters the Elden Ring causing her body to merge with Radagon and become imprisoned in the Erdtree while its fragments fly out into the Lands Between. A battle between the demigods for the greater runes ensues, but in the end even those able to gain a great rune are unable to gain entry to the Elden Ring. In a bid to alter her fate Marika returns the Guidance of Grace to the Tarnished and manipulates the Two Fingers (entities controlled by the Elden Ring) to offer guidance and appoint Finger Maidens to the promising Tarnished. However, the Tarnished are unable to measure up to the demi-gods and the feuds of the demi-gods are at a stalemate until your Tarnished comes into the picture.

One of the oldest of those tarnished is Sir Gideon Ofnir, who established the Roundtable Hold. In a bid to acquire the great rune of Miquella after obtaining information (from a network of spies) about a Talisman which grants access to the Haligtree where Miquella is rumored to be, Gideon sends Ensha (his right hand man) and the Omen Killers to retrieve part of it from the Albinautic Village. Having failed in the task, upon learning of your possession of that half of the talisman, Ensha ignores the rules of the Roundtable Hold to obtain it. Ensha dies in the process, but Gideon deducts as much and using his station chooses to have you do the leg work for his ambition of becoming the Elden Lord. He offers you gifts to keep him informed on your progress of obtaining the great runes under the guise of being the keeper of knowledge at the Roundtable Hold. Gideon by the end of the journey is convinced that the throne is unattainable for a Tarnished and it is Marika's will that the Tarnished continue to seek it in vain.

Spoiler

i understand the alchemical idea of Marika/Radagon as a sort of regal rebis. it's unclear when they merge before our tarnish hero's quest begins
the Elden Beast is not the Greater Will (GW) but a vassal (not vessel) for the GW. defeating Elden Beast means the end of the GW's influence on the Lands Between for the time being.

Marika banishing Godfrey because he lost his fighting spirit sounds unconvincing to me
i think the fact that the union with Godfrey bearing two omens from their litter of three reflected poorly on Godfrey as consort, so the GW through Marika puts into motion finding a superior match for her.

who is Radagon? where did he come from? i like the theory that he's related to the fire giants in some way as the game keeps obsessively pointing out his "red locks."
why did Radagon battle Rennala only to then marry her?
why does he then leave her to be Marika's consort?

What is the distinction between the power of the Erdtree and the Golden Order? my understanding is that the Golden Order is the implementation of the Erdtree's power.

why was Iji killed? who killed him?
he's left kindling in black flame but surrounded by dead black knife assassins

i have to stop, just too many questions

 

[NeverYouMind]

Spoiler: Further Explanation

1. The Greater Will has a physical form no different from the slayed Fell One-Eyed God and Goddess of Rot sealed in the Lake of Rot.

2. Godfrey's usefulness to Marika ran out when he defeated the last threat to the Golden Order (the Dragonlord). However, the established perfect order did not suit her ambitions.

3. Radagon like Marika lead a campaign to bring the Golden Order to the Lands Between, but in the region ruled by the Carian royal family. Having met his match, he opted to conquer the land through marriage.

4. Radagon and Marika come from the Land of the long lived Numen outside the Lands Between like the Black Knife Assassins. It is speculated that his hair was somehow cursed by the fire giants. Radagon being ever faithful to the Greater Will and the other half of Marika happily rejoined them after receiving a summons.

5. The Golden Order is a desired state of the world to the Greater Will and the exact opposite of chaos. The Erdtree is a mechanism of spreading the Golden Order to the Lands Between. It is so potent that Godwyn's corpse's corruption spread from its roots to create Those Who Live In Death.

6. Iji was killed by the surviving conspirators of the Night of Black Knives as vengeance after Ranni left the picture. He took three of them with him.

 

[ntropy]

what happened here? timestamped @6:07
im guessing death blight from the basilisks leaked onto the sentinels on rails?! lmao

 

[NeverYouMind]

In that particular dungeon there is a rising pillar that places a summon sign on the road and once the player is close enough it spawns another chariot that collides with the chariot already on those rails.

 

[crazyjah2003]

I sucked every little bit of this games dry; Every build, Every concept my mind could think of... I have ran out of stuff to try now unfortunately... I wonder where the months of 2022 went... its like I went to sleep in March and woke up and its December.

Most fun I have had is the double machine gun, Bubbles and the pot thrower

Most effective Double huge hammer, Gravity mandible weapon

 

[NeverYouMind]

Double machine gun?

 

[crazyjah2003]

Double machine gun?

2 repeating crossbows, one bleed one frost. All stats into vigor... I made it to elden beast... but that is my objective usually... I can only beat Elden beast with a few builds.

One is just as effective, if not more.. but 2 is soo badass... I think the build wrecks too.

 

[NeverYouMind]

How did you get a second Pulley Crossbow on a single playthrough? I was under the impression that it can only be picked up once in the Craftsman's Shack?

Also, since you tried all kinds of builds, did you find any way to make lightning weapons and whips work in the late game? If so, how?

 

[crazyjah2003]

How did you get a second Pulley Crossbow on a single playthrough? I was under the impression that it can only be picked up once in the Craftsman's Shack?

Also, since you tried all kinds of builds, did you find any way to make lightning weapons and whips work in the late game? If so, how?

You could have people gift you weapons on the subreddit... Not sure if that's frowned upon on GAF but I RMT'd a lot so I don't have to wait for people to give me stuff or farm. Mostly because most build required Shard of Alexander; it is so late game that I felt ok RMT'ing.

I started the game with whatever weapons and talismans needed or at least able to trade for and went from there... weapons were like 0.3 dollars a pop.

Whips were Awesome... I went with 2 of the one with the best Innate bleed and and use frost ashes of wars on both... It was sick. I theory, this is my best Idea for taking on Melania, but I have not bothered taking her down.

As for lightning... There are some Crazy powerful ones, Like the Cragblade, which does stupendous damage... or the one that you can throw lightning with at range... it is really OP too....

The most fun I have had with lightning is the Rolling Battering Ram; Takes getting used to and a bit of effort to get right... but its tons of fun and a different way to play.

 

[NeverYouMind]

I have used whips extensively, but I really have not been able to make them work against Melania and the like. They are my favorite weapon to use on horseback. However, on foot there is a bit too much recovery time and not enough poise break. Even with 2 frost imbued +25 Haslow whips and Fire's Deadly Sin incantation, the small windows of opportunity do not seem to do it for me.

Dragon King's Cragblade has a top tier skill in Thundercloud Form, but I am referring more to utilizing the basic attack of weapons with that element as opposed to ashes of war or skills. That particular element seems to be equaly as resisted as others, but without the scaling adding to the damage dealt. If there was some way to make enemies wet and get that lightning damage bonus, it would make up for a lack of scaling, but as it is, it is an inferior infusion path from my perspective.

 

[Nankatsu]

So, uh, I think I might finally be going for Elden Ring. I was thinking choosing Samurai class.

How difficult it is to play it?

 

[crazyjah2003]

So, uh, I think I might finally be going for Elden Ring. I was thinking choosing Samurai class.

How difficult it is to play it?

Difficulty highly depends on your build... Bleed used to be OP but they nerfed it a bit so I'm not sure now... Probably still one of the best beginner builds.

 

[Mjordan23]

So, uh, I think I might finally be going for Elden Ring. I was thinking choosing Samurai class.

How difficult it is to play it?

Not to difficult for me atleast and I suck at Demon Souls/Dark Souls/Sekiro. One of the better starting classes as the Katana is a really good weapon + unsheathe.

 

[gaming_again]

Bleed is overrated imo.

The easiest way to play is with magic, but that is mega boring.

The most fun - and still relatively easy way - is to go with massive strength and use colossal weapons. You can poise break and stun lock and smash bosses to smithereens. In all the builds I’ve tried this feels the most natural way to play the game.