Board 8 > Elden Ring Review Zone

(+) Yeah! (+)

I've noticed no one has posted about Alexander.

Alexander is great.

I've only met him the once. Where else have you seen him?

I've only met him once but that was enough. I assume the next time you meet him is the place he tells you he's going.

Gonna be sad when he dies horribly as is tradition for Soulsbourne NPCs.

Peace___Frog posted...

I've only met him the once. Where else have you seen him?

i found him in some cave to the east. there was a paper thin wooden wall/door blocking his way, so presumably he's stuck there until i figure out how to open it from the other side

MoogleKupo141 posted...

lol wow just got super lucky on my second attempt to fight Godrick. I guess I stunned him at the HP percentage where he would shift to his second form, so he just didnt do it at all.

This happened to me. Loved it

Re the second Alexander encounter: I assume I have to go around to the other side of the tunnel and open the door for him, but part of me is wondering if Im supposed to hit him from behind again and send him flying through the wall to break it down... but Im afraid to try because I dont want to accidentally make him hate me

MajinZidane posted...

this topic made me buy this game last night.

I've never played a game from this genre before. Does the class matter?

Oh man, I'm excited.

Class changes your starting items and skill points. It doesn't really matter because you can skill however you want with levels, but things like trying to be a sorcerer early is rough if you're not an INT class as you won't have a staff early to cast, and once you do get spells you might not have the right stats to cast early spells. It's best to try and pick what you want early on so you won't have that headache. Later on if you decide to change its easy to spec into what you want

From what I hear the game has a very forgiving respec system as well down the line.

Found a good leveling spot at isolated merchants shack near dragonbarrow west

The dinosaur dogs cant hit you well at the grace site so you can pick them off with spells. Drop 1800 each and its about 45 seconds a kill

MoogleKupo141 posted...

Re the second Alexander encounter: I assume I have to go around to the other side of the tunnel and open the door for him, but part of me is wondering if Im supposed to hit him from behind again and send him flying through the wall to break it down... but Im afraid to try because I dont want to accidentally make him hate me

I forgot about this encounter! How time flies.

I was able to open that door by coming from the other side. I stumbled there from some cave somewhere

Pirateking2000 posted...

aand after messing around there some more I managed to find a way further climb up it and find a grace spot! It's called the Divine Tower of Caelid

I ran into the boss here at a very low level, fun times.

So I found an item that allows a respec but I don't know where to go to use it. Anyone know?

I'm going to rough it out a bit more with my Dex/Int character, but Sorcery seems pretty bad which is a bummer. If things don't improve soonish respeccing is a real possibility. I've played over 20 hours so it's kind of too late to start a new character and kill all my momentum.

I went and picked up the Meteorite staff early on since it has S rank scaling with INT and have been dunking on most things so far with my VIG/INT character

ninkendo posted...

I went and picked up the Meteorite staff early on since it has S rank scaling with INT and have been dunking on most things so far with my VIG/INT character

yeah after looking up what others are saying about sorcery this is also the conclusion I've come to

It just seems weird that the solution is "look up where a very specific item is and go to a very specific corner of the map" in order to make sorcery viable. Not that I have any issue with wiki diving in a FromSoft game, I just didn't expect to have to do it so early and for the reason that sorcery seems barely functional otherwise?

Also this still doesn't really explain the problem where advanced sorceries you can find are straight up less powerful than the very basic ones?

Yeah I stuck with the basic glintstone pebble so far although I switched out the arc version for the Carian Slicer which is from a scroll I found and gave to the sorcery merchant. Does a nice 3 hit combo with a magic sword for very good damage when enemies get too close to me.

weird, I feel like Ive been kicking ass with sorceries and I dont have that meteor staff (I have the demihuman mother staff or something))

it does feel like a bunch of the spells Ive acquired have been total garbage though. Crystal blast and Crystal something else both seem super weak.

but the homing spell I started with, glintstone pebble, and glintsone arc have been serving me well

Sorcery is very beginner friendly though. Especially if you get the Wolves before doing anything to serious.

MoogleKupo141 posted...

weird, I feel like Ive been kicking ass with sorceries and I dont have that meteor staff (I have the demihuman mother staff or something))

it does feel like a bunch of the spells Ive acquired have been total garbage though. Crystal blast and Crystal something else both seem super weak.

but the homing spell I started with, glintstone pebble, and glintsone arc have been serving me well

I've still got the starting staff so maybe that's the problem! I've upgraded it to +3 but I don't want to waste stones taking it further. But the only other one I've found in 20 hours is what I assume is the starting staff for the pure mage which doesn't seem worth the investment either. Everything is good in Limgrave but venturing outside of it I'm getting absolutely wrecked.

Either way the low number of viable sorceries is just a bummer! It sucks to get stuff that looks cool but is worse than pebble!

ctesjbuvf posted...

Sorcery is very beginner friendly though. Especially if you get the Wolves before doing anything to serious.

The summons have nothing to do with sorcery, it's not like they scale so everyone can use them. It's beginner-friendly but the problem I've run into is that I used a lot of level-ups on INT to get better scaling and spells, but then the spells turned out to be worse, and the levels would have been better spent pumping HP.

There are eventually upgraded versions of the pebble and the arc at least

also the magic sword I'm using also has a greatsword version that looks rad

My typical loadout has been Greater Pebble / Glintstone Arc / Magic Weapon which are reliable enough but super basic. I think the sword-summoning spell is also supposed to be good so once I get enough STR for this magic sword I found I'll try that.

I don't know why this guy started with half HP

https://twitter.com/shineget64/status/1498076289860882435

HeroDelTiempo17 posted...

The summons have nothing to do with sorcery, it's not like they scale so everyone can use them. It's beginner-friendly but the problem I've run into is that I used a lot of level-ups on INT to get better scaling and spells, but then the spells turned out to be worse, and the levels would have been better spent pumping HP.

That's not what I meant by mentioning them. Just that the easy playstyle is because you can keep everything a distance until it's down and having summons helps as they keep the enemy you can't kill quickly busy, allowing you to keep distance while just spamming your magic.

I've thrown a few points into int to be able to use magic weapon, and I'm really wishing I'd just done str or dex instead

I made a beeline towards the Erdtree. The enemies on the plateau aren't really all that much stronger and give way more runes. Plus there are tons of golden seeds up there, up to 10 flasks now. Unlocked all the overworld maps (I think) as well. The last one was a real bitch to get to, I'll tell you what. Also found what is very clearly a Castle Cainhurst parallel, but I'm kind of reluctant to join the evil covenant.

It's frankly absurd how many enemies and bosses are in this game. I've rode over maybe 60-75% of the map and there are so many unique bosses to come back and fight later. It really feels like 2-3 Souls games worth of content.

ninkendo posted...

I don't know why this guy started with half HP

The half hp was weird yeah, figured I'd have to wait for a Vaati video to explain the lore

I have yet to find a single secret door, playing offline so no messages to clue me in. Does rolling still work to dispel them? I don't enjoy breaking my arm on every wall. There's a lot of stuff I can see but can't figure out how to get to in stormveil castle and my only guess is I'm missing a hidden path.

I'm not going to say hidden doors don't exist in this game, but every message so far that has pointed one out has been a lie

I found my first hidden passage pointed out by a message after 19 hours in. I made a note of it!

If anyone's worried about their stat allocations, you can change them once you beat a certain boss.

There are definitely hidden doors! I've found one in the main world that was largely useless, but there have been two catacombs so far with them.

Couple of mysteries I wondered if people would like to ruminate on:

• First, it seems like every so often I hear what sounds like a woman screaming in terror. I have no idea where it comes from, I just hear it every so often exploring Limgrave. It feels like it's kind of different from the regular monster screeching and yelling you hear occasionally.
• South of Agheel lake there's like this hole that's basically a bottomless pit. For some reason all I could hear was the never-ending sound of screams of pain coming from near it with no visible source. I tried jumping into it and died immediately (it wasn't like I died from fall damage, I just instantly died to the darkness). Any idea what the hell is going on there? It might only happen at night time.

Anyone been doing any crafting? I haven't really used it yet.

The crucified bodies you see around all over also cry out and moan at night.
One thing I've noticed is that there seems to be way less ways to learn about the lore in the game. The item descriptions are shorter and I haven't heard that much from the few NPCs I've found

Mac Arrowny posted...

Anyone been doing any crafting? I haven't really used it yet.

Bone darts are vital for drawing aggro. Pickled turtle neck is an excellent stamina regen tool. Rainbow orbs are good for determining lethal falls. There have been times where I could have really used the poison cures, but I haven't found the recipe yet.

Not sure which one has the poison heal, but I found it along the way somewhere.

Been crafting that and bone darts.

Mac Arrowny posted...

Anyone been doing any crafting? I haven't really used it yet.

The resins are pretty easy to make and useful.

DeepsPraw posted...

The crucified bodies you see around all over also cry out and moan at night.

Ah. I had thought it could have been them, but they didn't seem to move or give any indication that they were still alive so in the end I didn't assume that's what it was.

Im constantly maintaining a full supply of fire pots

the poison cure recipe... I definitely bought it from a merchant, but I cant remember which one

masterplum posted...

Found a good leveling spot at

theres a completely broken one - enemy that gives like 2 grand can be lured off a cliff and the Grace is five seconds away. I figure itll be patched soon

There's a bat enemy near the Peninsula Erd Tree that sings.

I don't....I don't know why.

neonreaper posted...

theres a completely broken one - enemy that gives like 2 grand can be lured off a cliff and the Grace is five seconds away. I figure itll be patched soon

Locatiooon

I'm pretty sure the poison heal recipe is bought from the merchant near the Coastal Cave. That was first place I saw the poison cure items being sold, and merchants usually sell the recipes for the same items they sell.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

Locatiooon

Lennes Rise and follow the messages/ ghosts. Go down the hill and the ball will appear and try to crush you. Make it fall off the cliff and it does and gives 1900+ souls. Then warp back. You can probably do it four times a minute.

Oh, hey, that's not too far from the burning church (only site I have in the red region), if there are no bosses blocking I should be able to book it straight there.

One thing I've noticed is that there seems to be way less ways to learn about the lore in the game. The item descriptions are shorter and I haven't heard that much from the few NPCs I've found

yeah Im reading all the items I find becvause I want to know more about all these weirdo enemies and I feel like its mostly all still a mystery.

like this weapon I just picked up, the claymans harpoon, all the detail about the dudes I get is wielded by the claymen who infest dynastic remains

what why are there clay men infesting dynastic remains? whats their deal?

Earlier today I beat a guy who gave me a 40 str sword so this is on him!

neonreaper posted...

Lennes Rise and follow the messages/ ghosts. Go down the hill and the ball will appear and try to crush you. Make it fall off the cliff and it does and gives 1900+ souls. Then warp back. You can probably do it four times a minute.

eh I still think killing the 11 guys in 2 minutes that give 1094 each in the upper right corner of the map still ends up being faster

Also finally beat Margit this afternoon but it was super cheese shackles and summons+2. I found him to be like 20 times harder and less fun that everything else so far. Even some mini bosses that killed me a dozen times I felt way better about. Im sure this bodes poorly for the story bosses ahead lol

ninkendo posted...

eh I still think killing the 11 guys in 2 minutes that give 1094 each in the upper right corner of the map still ends up being faster

sure but I can play with my dog while I do mine

There's a one time use spot that's fairly easy to get to near the Bestial Sanctum that'll net you around 75K runes. Works best with a bleed weapon.

Okay, think I'll give up for real this time

I just can't make anymore progression. I'm at level 19. I have super basic equipment and leveled up my starting sword once. I've been exploring all over the south and east maps from the starting area. For awhile I thought I was getting better at this game. I beat the gaol monster and felt accomplished. I beat a pumpkin head boss. I beat Patches. But now I'm at a wall where I just can't get anywhere. Levelling is taking forever. I can't beat the castle morne boss, so I for sure can't beat Margit yet. Whenever I go into a dungeon the enemies are always too tough for me.

I'm playing confessor and it just feels super slow. Haven't found a staff yet so can't do magic. All the mini bosses guard break me immediately and I can't get the dodge timing right.

To be fair to Elden ring this is definitely the most I've enjoyed a Souls game. There really should be an easy mode though

Do you have wolves +2? Thats not hard to get and it makes a difference.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

There's a bat enemy near the Peninsula Erd Tree that sings.

I don't....I don't know why.

I thought it was a dude singing, who eventually got eaten by the bats