From Software Elden Ring - From Software's new game with writing by GRRM

[NJClaw]

Ok, that makes sense. So, I want to use a curved greatsword and a secondary piercing weapon. I also want to cast incantations because I like them a lot. I think my progression should be from bloodhound's fang and a rapier to morgott's cursed sword and a godskin stitcher. One handing both.

If you're planning your next character, those are all excellent weapons. I'm not a fan of curved sword as I find their moveset boring and too slow for their reach, but the ash of war on Bloodhound's Fang really elevates it over most weapons for me. Skills that add mobility and mobile moves are always very fun, and the damage on that thing is disgusting:



Another example in favor of the "fuck stats" brigade: do stats really matter when you can two-shot a boss at SL1?

I haven't used Morgott's Curved Sword much, but many people swear by powerstanced curved sword. The stat distribution doesn't look bad, even if the sword would probably get a slightly better AP with higher Dexterity and lower Arcane.

As for the thrusting sword, with those stats you would probably find better luck with the Bloody Helice, which naturally scales with Arcane (and, incidentally, has another great mobility move).

 

[Andnjord]

Ruins Greatsword would like to have a word with you. Although it does require 16 Int, but otherwise is in 99% a Str weapon. And its Weapon Arts is... amazing (though spamming it kinda trivializes the game, so I haven't used it too much).

The weapon art is too similar to the Blasphemous Blade for my taste (which felt like such a I WIN button that I refused to use it), and it looks just a little too short and stubby compared to other Colossals. But you're right, I forgot about it.

 

[Haplo]

You're right, its a little short. Additionally, its notably slower then other swords with the same moveset (like Watchdog's Greatsword, haven't made a direct comparison with Troll's Golden Sword or Grafted Greatsword).

And you are 100% correct about the weapon art. Though its fun to use sometimes against a group of mobs.

 

[Bloodeyes]

Ok, that makes sense. So, I want to use a curved greatsword and a secondary piercing weapon. I also want to cast incantations because I like them a lot. I think my progression should be from bloodhound's fang and a rapier to morgott's cursed sword and a godskin stitcher. One handing both.

If you're planning your next character, those are all excellent weapons. I'm not a fan of curved sword as I find their moveset boring and too slow for their reach, but the ash of war on Bloodhound's Fang really elevates it over most weapons for me. Skills that add mobility and mobile moves are always very fun, and the damage on that thing is disgusting:



Another example in favor of the "fuck stats" brigade: do stats really matter when you can two-shot a boss at SL1?

I haven't used Morgott's Curved Sword much, but many people swear by powerstanced curved sword. The stat distribution doesn't look bad, even if the sword would probably get a slightly better AP with higher Dexterity and lower Arcane.

As for the thrusting sword, with those stats you would probably find better luck with the Bloody Helice, which naturally scales with Arcane (and, incidentally, has another great mobility move).

Thanks. I'll go ahead with that then. Yeah the DEX is a compromise. I wanted 50 DEX, 45 arcane to hit the bleed cap at 44 and the casting softcap at 45, and I'm conscious I will be getting more damage from DEX than ARC. I could fine tune this using that calculation tool but I guess I'll just go with it and see how it works out.

Bloody Helice is indeed a cool weapon. I tried it a bit on various enemies in my last run and actually I didn't favour its L2. It wasn't bad by any stretch but I like the simplicity and time-efficient power delivery of giant hunt more. I'll get it, I'll upgrade it, but I suspect I won't main it unless the damage is a great deal more than the stitcher.

 

[Haplo]

Ruins Greatsword would like to have a word with you. Although it does require 16 Int, but otherwise is in 99% a Str weapon. And its Weapon Arts is... amazing (though spamming it kinda trivializes the game, so I haven't used it too much).

The weapon art is too similar to the Blasphemous Blade for my taste (which felt like such a I WIN button that I refused to use it), and it looks just a little too short and stubby compared to other Colossals. But you're right, I forgot about it.

Actually there's also the Grafted Blade Greatsword.
Not exactly a fan of its looks, but its a solid Str weapon. Kinda boring WA, but the Poise boost can be welcome.

The nice thing about Somber Stones is that you need only 1 of each for every upgrade and they are so plentiful.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Ruins Greatsword would like to have a word with you. Although it does require 16 Int, but otherwise is in 99% a Str weapon. And its Weapon Arts is... amazing (though spamming it kinda trivializes the game, so I haven't used it too much).

The weapon art is too similar to the Blasphemous Blade for my taste (which felt like such a I WIN button that I refused to use it), and it looks just a little too short and stubby compared to other Colossals. But you're right, I forgot about it.

Actually there's also the Grafted Blade Greatsword.
Not exactly a fan of its looks, but its a solid Str weapon. Kinda boring WA, but the Poise boost can be welcome.

The nice thing about Somber Stones is that you need only 1 of each for every upgrade and they are so plentiful.

Grafted is also noticeably shorter than some of the other options. Not that this makes it bad per se, but it's something to consider.

 

[Vibalist]

Now that the Souls-series has gone all-in on respeccing, I kind of actually wish there was a way to respec one's weapons. Maybe by using a Larval Tear to reset all of them back to +0 and regain your stones (with the possible caveat of having fewer stones in general). I hate finding a really cool weapon halfway through, but being unable to actually make the switch due to the fact that I'm running low on a random type of stone. For instance, right now I have all the +4's, 5's and '6s in the world... but no +3's. I'm only halfway through my run and already feeling like I'm locked into the weapons I invested heavily in early on.
And yes, I do know of the bell bearings, but you find those relatively late and could miss them entirely without assistance.

I also think they should have allowed us to use higher level stones in place of lower ones. If I wanna waste all my +4's in place of my non-existing +3's, why not let me? Seems arbitrary and needlessly restrictive.

 

[Dhaze]

It's a problem of communication. Something needs to indicate to the player that what he's facing here is late game shit, but when you're just facing the normal rats, bats and dogs that you always meet, it feels jarring and counterintutitive that they should be that much tougher than their cousins who exist just a stones throw away. Really, the only thing that indicates a serious change in difficulty is the dragons (which, admittedly, is a pretty serious indication). Even the landscape looks exactly identical to the rest of Caelid.

My theory is that FromSoft intended to put entirely different enemies here, but ran out of time and had to resort to placeholders like they did in Mountaintops. This would also explain why the encounterdesign is pretty basic and flat compared to most other areas. 10 identical dragons that now exist as basic mob enemy. An entire stretch with a bunch of dog-sauruses guarding absolutely nothing. It's clear to me something else was supposed to go down in this area. Maybe it was even supposed to have its own visual style. As it exists right now, it's one of my least favorite areas in the entire game.

There's a 99% chance that happened. I don't know enough about Bloodborne or Sekiro; haven't played the former, and haven't delved into the latter. But for the rest?

They couldn't finish Demon's Souls in time. So they had to scrape the lands of the giants, hence why the Archstone Of The Giant is broken.
They couldn't finish Dark Souls 1. Which explains the dramatic drop of quality post-Anor Londo—and Miyazaki had the gall to lay the state of Lost Izalith on the shoulders of a young, inexperienced dev...
Dark Souls 2 suffered deeply from a bevy of development issues. So that's a slightly different topic, though still sharing close kinship.
They couldn't finish Dark Souls 3. I remember when I first played that game, reading the item description of Carthus Beacon that mentionned 'Carthus Of The Sands'; and the skeletal swordsmen in the catacombs had these accoutrements and curved swords and shotels that gave them a distinctly middle-eastern vibe. Then I reached Archdragon Peak, and thought, "Uh... this place should have been Carthus Of The Sands." Well, turns out I was exactly right, because FromSoft couldn't finish the game in time and Archdragon Peak was supposed to be Carthus.

I remember talking about it with a friend, shortly after it was announced that Elden Ring would be open world. I said to him, "Knowing FromSoft that's gonna lead to copy-pasted enemies absolutely everywhere, with the only difference between them being bloated stats; and at least a couple of vast areas will be left in a state similar to that of Lost Izalith and Demon Ruins."

Now that the Souls-series has gone all-in on respeccing, I kind of actually wish there was a way to respec one's weapons. Maybe by using a Larval Tear to reset all of them back to +0 and regain your stones (with the possible caveat of having fewer stones in general). I hate finding a really cool weapon halfway through, but being unable to actually make the switch due to the fact that I'm running low on a random type of stone. For instance, right now I have all the +4's, 5's and '6s in the world... but no +3's. I'm only halfway through my run and already feeling like I'm locked into the weapons I invested heavily in early on.
And yes, I do know of the bell bearings, but you find those relatively late and could miss them entirely without assistance.

I also think they should have allowed us to use higher level stones in place of lower ones. If I wanna waste all my +4's in place of my non-existing +3's, why not let me? Seems arbitrary and needlessly restrictive.

Been thinking about exactly that, and doubtlessly that would be the best solution. A +1 Stone would have the value it has now; a +2 Stone could replace two +1 Stones; a +3 Stone could replaced three +1 Stones; and every Stone beyond +3 would act like a +3 when it comes to replacing a +1 or a +2.

Want to upgrade that +16 weapon, but don't have any +6 Stones? No problem, use your +7 or +8 or even +9!

They completely fudged the distribution of Smithing Stones—and I suspect they already had a hard time getting it to that point—so I'm sincerely surprised such a simple and evident solution was not implemented.

 

[Dhaze]

Sorry, Andnjord, I had entirely missed your answer.

Deathclaws in Fallout are arguably the threat, and seeing them is enough to tell you that the path you're treading has the stench of death about it. There's no equivalent to them in Elden Ring. In fact it's much worse in Elden Ring since most enemies find themselves copy-pasted in almost every area of the game, usually without any visual difference whatsoever, giving not a hint as to their threat level. Meanwhile, if you see a Deathclaw in Fallout, you know there's no fooling around in that area.

[...]

They've not really gone off the beaten path, yet they're finding Smithing Stone[6] when they don't even have a Smithing Stone[3]. They're getting transported to the other side of the world, and wonder if they should be there, since it's quicker to get to this place than inside Stormveil Castle.

On the recycled enemies part, that criticism is absolutely valid for the second half of the game (I'd say from Altus Plateau and beyond) but all the dino-dogs, dino-crows, kindreds of rot, cleanrot knights and even Sellia's sorcerers would be completely new to a player coming straight from Limgrave through the trapped chest. Add to that the very clear stench of death the whole area has compared Limgrave, and you can't tell me From didn't try really hard to tell you that this is a dangerous area and that "yeah, you got there through a chest we placed that clearly said 'entraped in a transporter chest', it looks very far on your map to where you were before, and everything looks like hell compared to peaceful Limgrave, try and get back home quick, ok? No hate plz!"

Sure, a trap is a trap, of course I'm not debating that. But you don't have to get ensnared by the fumes emanating from that chest in order to reach Caelid. You can just... walk or ride. Go northeastward while in Limgrave, and you'll end up in Caelid in about three minutes.

Also I would argue that for a variety of reasons, looks mean little in Elden Ring.
– "Oh, how pretty, this Liurnia Of The Lakes; what fresh air and clean water; what clear blues and vibrant greens and oh! oh! how they invigorate me! Why, I bethink to build a little cottage here on the fringe of the lake, perhaps even *gets sniped from 100meters away by a giant lobster having surged from beneath the ground*"

More, this is a game—or series of games—whose very fame was beget by its supposed difficulty. And that further muddies the already troubled waters of perceiving said difficulty. This is precisely what caused so many players to wander into the graveyard or descend into New Londo in Dark Souls 1, then bash their heads against the wall until bloody between the ears—because the game was supposed to be hard, and they were having a hard time, so it made sense.

Yet more: there is a place south-west into the Weeping Peninsula called the Tower Of Return, atop which lays a chest that teleports you much farther than merely Caelid, straigth into the capital. And the capital is bright, and open, and its sky is clear and clean—and the giant you fight there is likely to one- or two-shot you, with greater ease than most dangers you might face upon entering Caelid. Yet it's called the Tower Of Return, implying a voluntary travel; it's not called the Tower Of Nyark Nyark Nyark Now You're Trapped Motherfucker!

I'm not saying From didn't try to warn players that area X is more dangerous than area Y. I'm saying that they've long played the game of intentionally creating hundreds of scenarios to kill the player at every turn, and it somewhat backfired more than ever before.

But you're right: in all likelihood I'm overstating how much these things can annoy a new player. After all I mostly talk from the experiences related to me by a few friends, so that's not a representative sample.

I don't know. It's silly because it's a truly massive success, but, selfishly perhaps, I just hope they don't go the Elden Ring 2 route. It's exceptionnal that one studio can consistently create titles I want to play and replay again and again, but it's coming to an end and it honestly saddens me, because I don't see myself playing an Elden Ring 2. Rather, I hope they polish the recipe for something like Demon's Souls or Sekiro. (also, FromSoft, please push Sony towards publishing Bloodborne on PC; don't they want to make tens of millions bucks?)

/e: spelling.

 

[ELEXmakesMeHard]

Miquella is definitely set up to be a good guy. Being a good brother dedicated to healing his sister, establishing the Haligtree as a promised land for the downtrodden, and always depicted in a positive light (with youthful innocense and beauty).

There's one small hint that he might be manipulating others into loving him. Aside from that, he seems squeaky clean.

That's gotta mean that he'll turn out to be the greatest evil of Elden Ring, right? Wouldn't be surprised if a DLC reveals that he's fucking his sister (GRRM...), that he's luring albinaurics to the Haligtree to harvest their souls, that he corrupted Mohg, etc.

 

[cruel]

Difficulty in this game is just retarded. 140h in, level 125, done with Volcano Manor, Leyndell and Shunning Grounds (assuming those are done after Mohg, need to verify). Still, the only bosses that I would consider difficult (10+ tries) were Margit and Draconic Sentinel. 2 bosses in freaking 140h+. Godfrey - first try, Morgott - second try, Mohg - second try. Wtf? Those two lobsters in the sewers were more challenging than most of the bosses in this game

 

[Andnjord]

Hey guys, did you know your flesh should be consumed? By the scarlet rot?

Spoiler

Yeah, phase one is not too bad, but the sheer constant aggression of phase two is kicking my ass real bad. Didn't realise until now that she only does The Line during phase one, but switches to the above quoted line for phase two when she kills you. It's not even the clones or the waterfowl, just the relentless attacks that inevitably drive me to fuck up and lose control of the fight.

 

[Andnjord]

Difficulty in this game is just retarded. 140h in, level 125, done with Volcano Manor, Leyndell and Shunning Grounds (assuming those are done after Mohg, need to verify). Still, the only bosses that I would consider difficult (10+ tries) were Margit and Draconic Sentinel. 2 bosses in freaking 140h+. Godfrey - first try, Morgott - second try, Mohg - second try. Wtf? Those two lobsters in the sewers were more challenging than most of the bosses in this game

Oh you sweet sweet summer child, you have seen nothing yet

 

[mediocrepoet]

(also, FromSoft, please push Sony towards publishing Bloodborne on PC; don't they want to make tens of millions bucks?)

I wouldn't hold my breath on this one if I were you. Bloodborne was a project with Sony and exclusive to Playstation, just like Demon's Souls was. These days, From is deeply associated with Bamco and does multiplatform titles that sell far more than any console exclusive. This is probably why Sony had to contract with another studio to do the Demon's Souls remake for PS5.

 

[Dhaze]

No. Don't say those horrible words. Bloodborne will come to PC—and FromSoft will publish a version of DS2 with the original lighting and atmosphere, and then they'll hire Yasumi Matsuno to work together on a remake of Vagrant Story. I just know it.

 

[SumDrunkGuy]

Bloodborne is one of the greatest games ever made. I'm so so so happy I got to play it. I can't possibly imagine a life without it. Omg that would be like so horrible.

 

[Dhaze]

I'm playing Bloodborne right now! When I close my eyes, I can see it. It's all foggy and shit because of the tears, but it makes it easier to imagine the mist and salty air in the Fishing Hamlet.

 

[Vibalist]

They completely fudged the distribution of Smithing Stones.

Yes. This is another thing that annoys me endlessly. Right now I have forty-two (!) level 2 somber smithing stones in my inventory and one level 1. I haven't bought any. The game just decided to shower me with one type and completely neglect the other.

Same deal with smithing stones level four contra level three. I find level fours everywhere. I found them in Liurnia, in Caelid and I'm still finding them in Altus. Dropped randomly, in mines, on enemies, scattered throughout the landscape. But threes? Fuck off.

 

[Bloodeyes]

Not having a console as well as a PC just seems kind of stubborn when your major hobby is gaming. If you want to play Bloodborne grab it on PS4 and pick up Ghost of Tsushima while you're at it. A console is nothing like a PC in terms of cost. Even if you're kind of poor you can just get one without having to save forever and they usually last a long time. I have 2 PS4s a switch and my low end PC which cost more than two PS4s. If there was ever something I really wanted which was Xbox exclusive I'd have got one too. Why not? Even for one game if it's a big, good game it's worth just getting it for the experience you'll have.

 

[Yosharian]

Difficulty in this game is just retarded. 140h in, level 125, done with Volcano Manor, Leyndell and Shunning Grounds (assuming those are done after Mohg, need to verify). Still, the only bosses that I would consider difficult (10+ tries) were Margit and Draconic Sentinel. 2 bosses in freaking 140h+. Godfrey - first try, Morgott - second try, Mohg - second try. Wtf? Those two lobsters in the sewers were more challenging than most of the bosses in this game

Uhhh have you fought the endgame bosses yet?

I would be very surprised if you thought that Margit or Draconic Sentinel were harder than them.

 

[Yosharian]

Hey guys, did you know your flesh should be consumed? By the scarlet rot?

Spoiler

Yeah, phase one is not too bad, but the sheer constant aggression of phase two is kicking my ass real bad. Didn't realise until now that she only does The Line during phase one, but switches to the above quoted line for phase two when she kills you. It's not even the clones or the waterfowl, just the relentless attacks that inevitably drive me to fuck up and lose control of the fight.

I just did this fight in multiplayer, my life is too short to spend it on shit like this

 

[Yosharian]

I just can't relate to the whole lobster hate thing, yeah their ranged attack hurts but I never found it that hard to kill them or avoid fighting them.

Maybe you guys didn't invest in vigor enough? I dunno

 

[Dhaze]

Yes. This is another thing that annoys me endlessly. Right now I have forty-two (!) level 2 somber smithing stones in my inventory and one level 1. I haven't bought any. The game just decided to shower me with one type and completely neglect the other.

Same deal with smithing stones level four contra level three. I find level fours everywhere. I found them in Liurnia, in Caelid and I'm still finding them in Altus. Dropped randomly, in mines, on enemies, scattered throughout the landscape. But threes? Fuck off.

Oh it's sufficiently annoying that I think it somewhat funny.

At one point during my first playthrough (before any patch), I found myself with 12 or more Smithing Stones[4], [5], and [6] each, meaning that I could bring a weapon from +12 to +21—the only problem being that my weapon was stuck at +11, since for the life of me I could not find enough Smithing Stones [3]. And I hadn't explored the Altus Plateau yet, so no Smithing-Stone Miner's Bell Bearing [2] for me.

There's also the fact that 2 then 4 then 6 units of a certain Smithing Stone being required to upgrade a weapon is an idea lifted straight up from Dark Souls 3, with what I guess is no consideration given to its adaptability in Elden Ring.

I want to recognize this whole issue as a natural by-product of the open-world design, but really, FromSoft loaded the gun then dumbly pointed it at their feet...

– Change the 2>4>6 Smithing Stones requirements to 1>2>3
– Make a higher level Stone usable in lieu of a lower level one, should you find yourself lacking the latter
– Perhaps make the Smithing-Stone Miner's Bell Bearing [1], [2], and [3] drop from the first three major, Great-Rune-holding bosses you fight, rather than needing be found in mines and the Zamor Ruins

These alone would already aleviate much of the problem.

Not having a console as well as a PC just seems kind of stubborn when your major hobby is gaming. If you want to play Bloodborne grab it on PS4 and pick up Ghost of Tsushima while you're at it. A console is nothing like a PC in terms of cost. Even if you're kind of poor you can just get one without having to save forever and they usually last a long time. I have 2 PS4s a switch and my low end PC which cost more than two PS4s. If there was ever something I really wanted which was Xbox exclusive I'd have got one too. Why not? Even for one game if it's a big, good game it's worth just getting it for the experience you'll have.

Haven't owned a console more recent than a PS2. Borrowed a buddy's PS3 for Demon's Souls, way back then. Also a PSP for War Of The Lions.

As it is, there are literally two console-exclusive games I would like to play; Bloodborne on PS4 and Infinite Undiscovery on Xbox 360. I know what I like, and have zero or below-zero interest in any other title.

But no, on top of other factors, I despise the very concept of a platform-exclusive game; it's a predatory practice almost entirely predicated on the Fear Of Missing Out, and I don't want to encourage it in the least. I always picture Sony as some creep trying to entice me with a piece of candy, erect dick poking beneath his long coat, susurrating "Come, come into my [platform] van; I promise I won't rape you bloody!" into my ear.

 

[Nathir]

I just can't relate to the whole lobster hate thing, yeah their ranged attack hurts but I never found it that hard to kill them or avoid fighting them.

Maybe you guys didn't invest in vigor enough? I dunno

I think when talking about the lobsters most people refer to the pair at the bottom of Leyndell. They have higher stats and cannot be avoided easily. One of them will always see you if you walk a tiny bit out of the cover of the wall. It's fine if you didn't found them annoying or hard, but personally, I think the lobsters are some of the toughest non-boss enemies for most players.

Anyway, on my second playthrough I just crafted an ironjar aromatic and stood my ground. Just spamming attacks until the lobsters fell over.

 

[Bloodeyes]

Not having a console as well as a PC just seems kind of stubborn when your major hobby is gaming. If you want to play Bloodborne grab it on PS4 and pick up Ghost of Tsushima while you're at it. A console is nothing like a PC in terms of cost. Even if you're kind of poor you can just get one without having to save forever and they usually last a long time. I have 2 PS4s a switch and my low end PC which cost more than two PS4s. If there was ever something I really wanted which was Xbox exclusive I'd have got one too. Why not? Even for one game if it's a big, good game it's worth just getting it for the experience you'll have.

Haven't owned a console more recent than a PS2. Borrowed a buddy's PS3 for Demon's Souls, way back then. Also a PSP for War Of The Lions.

As it is, there are literally two console-exclusive games I would like to play; Bloodborne on PS4 and Infinite Undiscovery on Xbox 360. I know what I like, and have zero or below-zero interest in any other title.

But no, on top of other factors, I despise the very concept of a platform-exclusive game; it's a predatory practice almost entirely predicated on the Fear Of Missing Out, and I don't want to encourage it in the least. I always picture Sony as some creep trying to entice me with a piece of candy, erect dick poking beneath his long coat, susurrating "Come, come into my [platform] van; I promise I won't rape you bloody!" into my ear.

That's all well and good but in managing FOMO you do actually miss out on things. Actual masterpieces that can only properly be appreciated in their time, as even though it's possible to enjoy older games and prefer aspects of them the wow factor of the visuals is lost with time. And the wow factor of experiencing rapid technological evolution, seeing something new that wasn't possible last year, that's a big part of the appeal of AAA games. Of course PC is ahead here (if you can afford a good one, I can't right now), but I just mean that even if console exclusives do finally come to PC the experience often isn't the same, and sometimes the port isn't that good.

I understand taking a moral stance but is the issue important enough to justify what you're missing out on? Ghost of Tsushima was fucking dope. It's not a souls like but it's an awesome action game and it has a good story as well. It's also stunningly beautiful and gives Elden Ring a run for its money in the looks department. When it comes to cool outfits for characters it beats it hands down. Combat is stylish, quick and responsive. It's easier than Souls on normal but there are difficulty settings.

When dividing the cost of the console between the hours of enjoyment had in a single, good game and then comparing it to something else one might do for leisure like eating in a restaurant or going to a movie it becomes a negligible expense, and the console remains if there's anything else you want to play. The thing is also a DVD player and a handy way to watch youtube on your TV so even if it sees no more use as a console it's still good for something.