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

[gabel]

Yep, they should make more of those cinematic experiences that basically play themselves.
We don't have enough of them.

There are many things to critisise about Elden Ring.
Cryptic npc quests is not one of them.

 

[Grunker]

lol, at this point you're not even trying

 

[Strange Fellow]

The problem isn't the NPCs but the open world, which makes it far too easy to miss things.

 

[gabel]

The Great Hollow is easy to miss as well for example.
Which makes Dark Souls better, not worse.

 

[cvv]

The problem isn't the NPCs but the open world, which makes it far too easy to miss things.

Shit has always been easy to miss in Souls but you could - for example, theoretically - run around and pop many hidden walls in the tighter worlds of the previous games.

In Elder Ring it's not feasible at all, maybe except for Rainman grade autists. The open world turns "easy to miss" into "almost impossible to find".

Open world is a giant mistake for these kind of games, I can see it clearly now.

 

[NJClaw]

But I was extremely happy I stumpled on the Haligtree due to blind luck, because it was one of the most enjoyable areas to play through for me. I would have hated missing out on it and I bet my ass 99,9% of players google that shit instantly when they realize they're missing gigantic areas and not just a piece of side content.

I find the idea of hiding a huge chunk of content with the most iconic boss in the game behind an invisible NPC hidden in a random corner of the huge world map quite amusing. Especially in a AAA game.

I don't see the percentage in hiding such a huge and splendid content portion behind another secret area that in turn is hidden behind a hidden NPC.

You have to keep in mind that player messages are an integral part of these games. On a regular playthrough, you're supposed to stumble upon the albinauric village (almost impossible to miss), look around, and see two hundred shining messages surrounding an unassuming pot. Once you find Albus, it's impossible to miss the Haligtree (Castle Sol is the biggest point of interest in the Mountaintops of the Giants and the medallion literally tells you what you need to do). There is a somewhat brainy way to find it without relying on messages or blind luck, but you're supposed to get there by word of mouth.

On a somewhat related note, how many bosses have you faced in Farum Azula?

 

[cvv]

I find the idea of hiding a huge chunk of content with the most iconic boss in the game behind an invisible NPC hidden in a random corner of the huge world map quite amusing. Especially in a AAA game.

It is amusing, I just wish it wasn't just some dumb fake wall hiding the content so that you can discover it only by randomly banging your wep against walls like a retard.

One of the few good things DS3 did was the way it hid Archdragon Peak. It actually test your keen eye and memory. Loved it, that's the way to do it.

 

[Grunker]

On a somewhat related note, how many bosses have you faced in Farum Azula?

*googles*

I missed Placidusax.

 

[Skinwalker]

In Elder Ring it's not feasible at all, maybe except for Rainman grade autists. The open world turns "easy to miss" into "almost impossible to find".

Have you even played Elden Ring? You don't seem to be aware of how the game is built.

 

[Grunker]

Awright, I'm done. Elden Beast gave me lots of shit when I first encountered but besides being incredibly annoying by flying away and using the fly-up-ultra-attacks three times in a row, it became more manageable after crafting holyproof liver and switching great runes.

What a great fucking game. Can't wait to play Dark Souls next, think I'm going to enjoy it a lot more than my first attempt.

 

[janior]

Can't wait to play Dark Souls next

ROFL

 

[cvv]

Awright, I'm done. Elden Beast gave me lots of shit when I first encountered but besides being incredibly annoying by flying away and using the fly-up-ultra-attacks three times in a row, it became more manageable after crafting holyproof liver and switching great runes.

What a great fucking game. Can't wait to play Dark Souls next, think I'm going to enjoy it a lot more than my first attempt.

Have you generally used ash summons in boss battles?

 

[Grunker]

Awright, I'm done. Elden Beast gave me lots of shit when I first encountered but besides being incredibly annoying by flying away and using the fly-up-ultra-attacks three times in a row, it became more manageable after crafting holyproof liver and switching great runes.

What a great fucking game. Can't wait to play Dark Souls next, think I'm going to enjoy it a lot more than my first attempt.

Have you generally used ash summons in boss battles?

Yes. I would be way too shit otherwise.

I killed the Taurus on my first attempt this evening though, which bodes well. Game feels way better in my hands than previous attempt and things really got going once I got enough strength to equip the Zweihander which I found in Firelink. Black Knights are still completely impossible for me though lol

 

[NJClaw]

Grunker have you already finished the game once or did you drop it the last time?

 

[Multidirectional]

I killed the Taurus on my first attempt this evening though, which bodes well. Game feels way better in My hands than previous attempt. Black Knights are impossible for me though lol

Black Knights are weak to parrying and it's much easier than you might think. That whole starting area is actually a really good place to practice that shit, it's easier in DS1 than it is in every other Souls game. And when I talk about "Souls games" I mean ER too. Otherwise Black Knights can also be cheesed with firebombs, or basic fireball spell if you were smart enough to take a Pyromancer, objectively the best class to start with.

 

[Cyberarmy]

Eh, I just like to circle around Black Knights and backstab them.

 

[Grunker]

Grunker have you already finished the game once or did you drop it the last time?

I dropped it the last time but I got quite a ways in. Past the fortress and into Anor Londo which is where I dropped the game I think. Not only did I hide behind a shield making all fights very long, I also never learned the flow of combat, so I think making it to Anor Londo took me something like 30 hours or more. I hadn't ever played action games (except aRPGs and driving games) at that time, let alone souls-likes.

Eh, I just like to circle around Black Knights and backstab them.

That's what I tried now that my combat movement is way better than last time, but in all the places in undead burg the space is so small that attemping this tactic they just one-popped me with their 3-hit combo.

I killed the Taurus on my first attempt this evening though, which bodes well. Game feels way better in My hands than previous attempt. Black Knights are impossible for me though lol

Black Knights are weak to parrying and it's much easier than you might think

I might try it, though I feel like if I can't even get a backstab tactic to work, parrying might not be in the cards

 

[HeatEXTEND]

I might try it, though I feel like if I can't even get a backstab tactic to work, parrying might not be in the cards

No he's right, black knights might have an extended parry window or something, it's realy quite easy.

 

[NJClaw]

Grunker if you think Eden Ring quests are cryptic, I can't wait for you to find out how to access the DLC in Dark Souls

 

[volklore]

That three-part swishyswahsy attack thingy can seriously go fuck itself right in the rectum. Is there even a reliable way to avoid it or do you just have to accept that RNG has decided to consume 2/3s of your HP bar and heal Malenia?

It's actually not really RNG. She does it if you range attack her too much and she also does it after you put her through different hp thresholds. If i remember it's 75/50/and 25 percent. To note that if she heals back over those thresholds, she will do it again after you put her back past them. That's for phase 1. Phase 2 seems to have different triggers for them.
Once you notice this you can start running (ie sprinting) away from her which if times right will cause the first flurries to miss you and then you can dodge into the third one, and you should take no damage. My favorite way of fighting her is STR build with a big weapon that can use warcry ash because she staggers really easily.

 

[NJClaw]

It's actually not really RNG. She does it if you range attack her too much and she also does it after you put her through different hp thresholds. If i remember it's 75/50/and 25 percent.

There is for sure a threshold (around 75%), but once you reach it she can use the move whenever she wants. Here she does it two times in a row (0:29) without having sustained any damage.

 

[Grunker]

That three-part swishyswahsy attack thingy can seriously go fuck itself right in the rectum. Is there even a reliable way to avoid it or do you just have to accept that RNG has decided to consume 2/3s of your HP bar and heal Malenia?

It's actually not really RNG. She does it if you range attack her too much and she also does it after you put her through different hp thresholds. If i remember it's 75/50/and 25 percent. To note that if she heals back over those thresholds, she will do it again after you put her back past them. That's for phase 1. Phase 2 seems to have different triggers for them.
Once you notice this you can start running (ie sprinting) away from her which if times right will cause the first flurries to miss you and then you can dodge into the third one, and you should take no damage. My favorite way of fighting her is STR build with a big weapon that can use warcry ash because she staggers really easily.

I'm fairly sure this is incorrect. I noticed she never uses it on full HP, but she can deffo use it at will past a point

 

[volklore]

It's actually not really RNG. She does it if you range attack her too much and she also does it after you put her through different hp thresholds. If i remember it's 75/50/and 25 percent.

There is for sure a threshold (around 75%), but once you reach it she can use the move whenever she wants. Here she does it two times in a row (0:29) without having sustained any damage.

Some guy is blasting her with sorceries in the background in that vid, that's what is triggering her to spam the dance, I mentioned that spamming ranged attacks cause this in my post. She doesn't even need to eat them, even if she used her dodge, simply trying to range dmg her without being in her melee range will trigger her to dance after a couple casts.
My first playthrough was a faith mage and trying to blast her with lightning spears was triggering the dance constantly.
My second playthrough on an STR char melee, the thresholds were verified every single time in phase 1 (again don't remember exactly which ones) as long as I didn't try to use kukris on her or something. Phase 2 is different there it seems that she can do it whenever

EDIT : it think I dertermined back then the thresholds are 75 and 25 percent HP. Again might be a time related factor too but she definitely was doing it in these two instances ( and she will do it again if she heals over those thresholds and you break them again)

This was my final attempt on the melee char and you can see there that I know when to take my distance and she does waterfowl dance on the clock after the string of attacks that puts her past 75 and past 25 ish percent HP. Might have been changed since then though.
Malenia is generally designed to punish you for being passive and rewards taking initiative which is very different to most souls bosses which reward you for being reactive. That's why she has this super generous 'walking stance' and is pretty passive in phase 1 letting you start the exchange. This also lets you back up more or less freely and heal, again fitting with the theme that you should be the one taking initiative on the trades. Interesting theme is that she absolutely gets fucked by ashes of war which can track her through her side steps and dodges, almost like typical boss/player mechanics of souls series are reversed.
Which contrasts with radagon for example who is a typical souls boss, aggressive but with huge windows on certain moves.

 

[NJClaw]

First of all, great fight. I didn't know the Warcry heavy attack could micro-stagger her out of her moves. The part from 0:54 to 1:00 is amazing. Did you know you would avoid the second attack that way or were you just planning on tanking it?

I was positive that the attack couldn't be just triggered by thresholds because I've seen her do it multiple times without any hit in-between while I was playing a purely melee build. But maybe I just triggered it by keeping my distance too much?

I'm also inclined to believe that the 25% isn't a mandatory threshold, because I've seen her do it once at 75% and then never again until her second phase. Maybe getting her to a certain point just increases the chances that she decides to dance.

 

[volklore]

First of all, great fight. I didn't know the Warcry heavy attack could micro-stagger her out of her moves. The part from 0:54 to 1:00 is amazing. Did you know you would avoid the second attack that way or were you just planning on tanking it?

I noticed through my tries with different ashes of war that I could stagger her out of some of most of her light moves, not all, and that generally tanking through some moves was very worth it as long as you dealt good stance damage in return. Basically you want to dodge the forward small flurry and the big lunges, otherwise her attacks do very little poise dmg (I was using good armor and a poise ring if I remember correctly), and are quite favorable for trading. And I think but not sure that warcry heavy attack also does give a bunch of poise when you are locked in the charge. So i knew there was a good chance I would avoid that attack, but tanking it was probably okay anyway.

Keeping your distance too much does also seem to increase her dance frequency yes. In general, seems like her whole design is punishing passivity. Phase 2 is just phase 1 on steroids except now her ''waling stance'' is running so it's harder to back off and heal.