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

[Bloodeyes]

Seems like a good night's sleep was all I needed. I got him with ash of war glintsone pebble on a +14 keen flamberge.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

So is Malekiths black blade any good?

The ash of war is a cool idea but I hate that it does Holy damage, as so much big stuff at the end game is resistant to it.

Outside of Giant Crusher I'm kinda meh about colossal weapons anyway. Though I wish the gloam eyed queens sword scaled off str more.

 

[Bloodeyes]

So is Malekiths black blade any good?

The ash of war is a cool idea but I hate that it does Holy damage, as so much big stuff at the end game is resistant to it.

Outside of Giant Crusher I'm kinda meh about colossal weapons anyway. Though I wish the gloam eyed queens sword scaled off str more.

I tried using it before it got buffed and thought it was pretty shit. It gets hyper armor on its ash IIRC but back then it was pretty slow so the damage wasn't worth it, especially when compared to what you get from faster ashes on the Guts Greatsword (Lions Claw, Giant Hunt, RKR, Chilling Mist etc). They made it faster though so maybe.

It looks pretty good in PVP at least:



I'd suggest subscribing to ChaseTheBro. He's making weapons showcase videos for every weapon in the game so if you're curious about something he's likely to have covered it.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

I've been watching Carbot animations cartoons for a while now. The elden ring stuff is 100% accurate.

Fucking rune bears.

 

[Bloodeyes]

Today was a big day. I started with Black Blade Kindred. Then I killed everythinng in Caelid, including Radahn.

I was disappointed by the Radahn fight. I should have gone for him before Renalla. I was too strong for him at level 84, too tanky and dealt too much damage. It took 3 attempts and the one where I killed him was pretty bad. I got knocked all over the place. Oh well. Next time I fight him I'm doing it before Renalla. I want him to be hard enough that I actually have to learn him to beat him.

The gargoyle twins were a non - event. Pretty easy, first try win. Fia's Champions were surprisingly terrifying. Only two tries but the fight was intense and I did lots of running. Lichdragon Fortisax was nothing, as usual. Shieldless and solo made no difference. I didn't think it would.

Having hit 40 vigor and somber 9 the difficulty has taken a break for a while. I'm just cleaning up what's left of the early game. Death's Poker demolishes everything if I can land that WA. Its slow enough to require a punish window to land, but it takes enormous chunks out of them when it does. Especially with the magic shrouding cracked tear in my physick. Detonating that R2 inside a foe knackers the health of damn near anything and instantly procs frost. Black flames resets the proc so I can do it again. If there's no punish window the basic L2 poke with no follow up is easy to land. 1 to 3 pokes procs frost without the massive damage. Strong character.

I finally got some new drip too. Altered preceptor's chest and prisoner trousers.

I'll finish Ranni's quest tomorrow and clean up the rest of Dragonbarrow. The bell bearing hunter is waiting for me there.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

It's interesting but the bell bearing hunter always gave me a hard time. Never did frost but just went blow for blow with the guy. Never parried though so that might be the problem. I'd just block or tank that shit and hit him back.

It would become a race to see who could wipe out whom first.

 

[Bloodeyes]

Ranni's questline is finished and the Dragonbarrow Bell Bearing Hunter is dead. I still have to fight that bastard twice more though. Death's Poker ended up being a poor choice. Opportunities to do my full WA were almost nonexistent and I couldn't get the L2 stab in fast enough to proc frost. Even when I had done a few attempts and got reacquainted with his patterns I found myself unable to hit the punish windows because of light roll. I was just ending up too far away to get my hits in. That's happened a lot this run.

So I swapped to my cold flamberge with ash of war Giant Hunt. This allowed me to just press L2 when a window opened and I'd hit it, usually with enough time left to roll out afterwards. One thing light roll helped with a lot was healing and eating boiled crabs. Whenever I needed to sort myself out I could just panic roll away to eat and drink before getting back in there. I think pairing this weapon with light roll makes it especially challenging in some fights. I probably won't replace it, but I'm going to keep feeding smithing stones to that flamberge. I think I'm going to need it a lot. I can't wear trousers when I use it though. I mid roll if I do that.

 

[Bloodeyes]

I killed a few world bosses today. Nothing exciting. I'm just adventuring in the Altus Plateau, enjoying being OP for the last time in the run before the late game starts. There are two new weapons in my arsenal. The black knife, which I now have always equipped as a secondary, and the celebrant's skull which is an alternate primary.

The celebrants skull is an interesting one. Its probably the shittest great hammer, but its perfect for me. It weighs the same as Death's Poker so I can light roll with it, it only needs 18 STR so I can wield it with the Starscourge Heirloom, and it is a smithing stone weapon so I can make it keen. I'd forgotten all about this weapon when I was complaining about not having a good source of physical striking damage so I'm very happy to have found it.

I've now completed all of the early game and most of the mid game without breaking my rules for the run. I can't say I feel like I'm getting good, but at least I know I'm now capable of playing shieldless builds. Its probably unrealistic to think that a single no-shield playthrough will give my skills a noticeable boost, but I'm sure it will have helped, if only with my confidence.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

I don't like the flamberge as much as other greatswords. And I know we have a big number of greatswords available, but at times I still feel some of them are lacking. I mean the normal ones, not the uniques.

Of the uniques Gravity greatsword and gravity curved greatsword are the ones that disappoint me. I wish they just had better ashes.

 

[Bloodeyes]

I don't like the flamberge as much as other greatswords. And I know we have a big number of greatswords available, but at times I still feel some of them are lacking. I mean the normal ones, not the uniques.

Of the uniques Gravity greatsword and gravity curved greatsword are the ones that disappoint me. I wish they just had better ashes.

The flamberge isn't a particularly good greatsword but its a DEX greatsword and I'm a DEX/INT/FTH build. I could just keen scale another sword but I like cold scaling. If I hadn't banned myself from OP ashes the flamberge is excellent cold scaled with wild strikes. Against anything that can be staggered you just hold L2 to win. First the frost procs, then the bleed follows. My favorite greatsword is the Iron Greatsword. It eats up STR and shits out damage.

Not much progress today. It was a workday and I'm tired. I cleaned up the rest of Altus. I fought the two crucible nights. Not a hard fight at level 123. Got it first try. Still, I used to really struggle with that one even using a shield and mimic tear. I'll do the capitol and Morgott tomorrow. Might even start the sewers.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

I haven't gotten the iron greatsword yet. It only drops from like 2 leonine misbegotten in leyndell I think.

Interestingly enough, fighting that group of misbegotten with the perfumers attached to them was a really good challenge. Should be more fights of mobs like that in the game. The perfumers would throw invincibility and shit all over the boss leonine and the group would run roughshod all over you.

It's one of those things that makes me wish there were mobs similar to that running around ala horned omen, etc.

 

[Bloodeyes]

I haven't gotten the iron greatsword yet. It only drops from like 2 leonine misbegotten in leyndell I think.

Interestingly enough, fighting that group of misbegotten with the perfumers attached to them was a really good challenge. Should be more fights of mobs like that in the game. The perfumers would throw invincibility and shit all over the boss leonine and the group would run roughshod all over you.

It's one of those things that makes me wish there were mobs similar to that running around ala horned omen, etc.

Yeah that's a pretty cool encounter. So to get the sword from them here's what I do:

I use a larval tear and respec to an arcane build. I dump everything into arcane except weapon requirements, 30-40 vigor and enough endurance to mid roll with my weapon, the silver tear mask, a cloth robe and a shortbow. I try to hardcap my discovery at the expense of all else.

I go from the avenue balcony site of grace (It's quicker than taking the lift down) and use the shortbow to pull the misbegotten away from the perfumers then kill him with a Lion's Claw or 2.

Then I jump over the side and run to the misbegotten down the bottom, ignoring all enemies except for 1 dog that's easier to kill. Kill him and fast travel back to the grace and start again. I usually get it pretty quickly. If I'm planning to grind for anything else I may make a more survivable arcane build and use it for a while, but if it's just the iron I make a glass cannon then just change back when I've got it.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

I haven't used a larval tear once yet. I think if I did I wouldn't be so overleveled. Lol

 

[Major_Blackhart]

After I get mind to 20 I'm going to level up faith enough to use the devourers scepter. I really want to like that weapon. I made it a +10 on my first playthrough without ever using it just because it was the last one to get the badass trophy with. Plus I really liked Bernhal.

 

[Bloodeyes]

The run is going okay. Morgott is down. The fight was pretty easy. I just used my weapon art a couple of times and he died. I've also cleared the sewers, killed Mohg Jr and claimed the Frenzied Flame. My plan is to burn the Erdtree without sacrificing Melina, then go to the Haligtree, help Millicent, kill Malenia (God help me), then beat Placidusax and cure myself. I should then be able to beat the game and go for the Golden Order ending. Everyone lives happily ever after.

The only thing is this plan has me beating Malenia before I beat the game. So I can't level up vigor or respec before I fight her. I have to do it with 40. I'm level 125 (My max level) and somber 9 on seal and weapon. There's also no more easy content left. The capital and everything before it have been thoroughly cleared out. Now the challenge run becomes challenging. At last.

 

[Bloodeyes]

So far today I've killed black blade kindred (twinblade) which was much easier than the Dragonbarrow one. I've also cleared out the Zamor ruins and claimed the bell bearing. I've also done some mini dungeons and killed the frost dragon. Progress is slow because things are harder now. I got stuck for ages on the boss fight in spiritcaller cave. It probably took me 20 attempts, just because of my relatively small health pool and low damage negation.

I also killed Rykard. That took a couple of attempts but it wasn't too bad.

Edit: Fire giant down as well. The run is getting pretty hard now, but it's actually doing what I wanted it to. With summons and my usual crutches removed I'm having to engage with the late game boss fights and learn them in order to beat them. I'm sure I'm getting better doing this. It's getting harder and I'm dying more but my wins are more skillful when I get them.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

How were the twin gargoyles? Did you summon D's brother?

 

[Bloodeyes]

How were the twin gargoyles? Did you summon D's brother?

No one of my rules for this run is no summons at all for any reason. No players, no spirits no NPCs. The gargoyle twins were actually easy. I did them after the Dragonbarrow Black Blade Kindred so I was already very practiced at fighting gargoyles and they are a lot weaker than him. First try with little effort.

The rules are for the run are:

- No Lion's Claw
- No wild strikes
- No other ashes I think don't require player skill tto win fights with (so no Moonveil, RoB etc). This one is a tad subjective. The ash I'm mainly using (ghostflame ignition) is extremely powerful, but hard to land against aggressive foes so I think its kosher.
- No rotten breath
- No summons
- No shields except a parrying shield (defined as a small shield with ash of war parry, buckler parry or Carian retaliation. I haven't used the parrying shield. The run has been completely shieldless because I can't parry.)
- Must always be light equip load. Because of my choice of build this functionally means I cannot wear armor. Only the lightest cloth robe and trousers in the game. I have to take my shirt or trousers off to equip my flamberge. I actually had to fight Rykard shirtless and with Great Jar's Arsenal just to stay light with the spear.
- Can't level above 125
- Can't level vigor above 40
- While levelling I wasn't able to level vigor above my main stat, which is Dexterity. So if I had 19 DEX and 19 Vigor I had to take 20 DEX before I could take 20 vigor. I'm also using a split scaling weapon so this stopped me getting too tanky in the early game.
- No level grinding. Grinding for runes to buy weapon upgrades was allowed but I didn't do it because I didn't need to.
- All bosses, remembrance or otherwise (doesn't need to be a rule, I always do this).

I've stuck to the rules except for a couple of times where I changed talisman and didn't notice I was medium rolling. This obviously didn't give me any advantage and was brief and completely accidental. It's not a challenge run that anyone would brag about, but I'm not making a youtube video. Just removing some of my crutches so I get better at this kind of game before I move on to playing the previous Souls titles.

 

[DemonKing]

For the tarnished who seeks to remain maidenless for all eternity:

Spoiler

Source: https://culturedvultures.com/best-elden-ring-gifts/

 

[Bloodeyes]

So I cleared out the remainder of Mountaintops of the giants and Consecrated Snowfield as well. Most things here didn't give me too much trouble, with a couple of notable exceptions. The group of archers near Ordina Liturgical Town. I beat them in the end but wow they are difficult with this character.

The other thing that really fucked with me was Astel, Stars of Darkness. That one took a couple dozen attempts. Nothing I had did very much damage and it did enormous damage to me, even with boiled crab. I also found the instakill grab incredibly difficult to avoid. I got there in the end but holy shit that was hard. One of only a few fights this run that I've genuinely struggled with.

Tomorrow, Moghwyn Dynasty Mausoleum. And Mohg, Lord of Blood. I've never taken more than one try to beat him previously, but I expect this is going to be exceptionally difficult with this character. I'm planning to spend the whole day on it. I'm going to have to save the Haligtree and Malenia for my next days off. I just can't see myself wanting to fight her after work. So there's probably the better part of a week left until I finish this thing.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Nice. Impressive overall. My first NG+ is going well but I've only leveled like four times. It takes a little over a half million for each level. The good thing is on the first play through I got almost everything, so I can play however I feel.

 

[Bloodeyes]

I spent several hours on Mohg today but I didn't get him. I've burned out and my attempts are starting to get worse so I've walked away. It's not for lack of trying or wanting it. I'm just not good enough at phase 2 yet, I get hit by too much.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

I get that. After I up my faith to 25, gonna see how the last boss greatsword does in Holy damage against those albinauracs and then either work to raise faith for more farming or just say fuck it and bits the bullet and max strength and then increase vigor until I'm satisfied. It's 55 now.

 

[Bloodeyes]

I finally killed Mohg. With the right talismans and buffs his damage isn't so bad. This time I stopped playing so cautious and analytical and just got aggressive. It helped that I was able to get to phase 2 with all my flasks as well. I dished out more punishment than I took and I won. One hit away from dead, all flasks empty. But I won and I'll absolutely fucking take it.

The run can progress again!

 

[Major_Blackhart]

It's weird. Everyone said Mogh was hard as hell, but with my str build, using the sword of milos, I beat the hell out of him. The dude bled out like crazy actually.

Edit: I shudder at what you'll go through with Malenia.