I only buffed Faith to 24 so I could try a few more incantations. I didn't plan going higher with it anyhow because I can already see there's no point in going further. I wasted my last 2 Dragon hearts on a ice blast when I should have got the rotting breath. It would have way been more useful for Radahn.

Rob

I rebirthed twice already, but I have another item for doing it a third time.

I use the horn bow a lot. I have not found a better bow yet, but with the distance and damage charms it still works well. Wraith calling bell is still a favorite for distance attacks.

Rob

I just went through Caria Manor last night... Wow, that was absolutely crazy, almost like a horror movie!

Rob

My first perfect game, 100% completion on Steam.
Up next Sekiro, glutton for punishment I guess.
New to the franchise and loving it so far.

Stuck at the fire giant. Geez, what an ass kicker!

It took me hours to beat Starscourge Radahn. Many times I had him near death and then I couldn't find any more summons or if I did, they couldn't do any damage. The cooperators I invited kept dying right away too. But, finally tonight I got past him.

Rob

A couple of times Ive killed a boss at the exact same time that they have killed me. The kill counts, but you don’t get the runes. Hate that

****Spoiler ALERT****

Attack the leg with the brace

I just beat him this morning.

Thanks. I’ll try again tonight

Saw the credits roll last night. Took me just under 90 hours. All time great game. I was constantly amazed/surprised at each new area I discovered. Also I can't think of a single main boss that was underwhelming. There were definitely moments of frustration but a quick youtube video usually solved that.

I was using a melee build that was mainly focused on strength with a bit on INT and ARC. Once I got the Radahn Starscourged Greatsword I never looked back. Pretty much the only weapon I used from that point forward. I'm tempted to do another run as INT/DEX, as that seems to be pretty fun from what I've been reading. Get to use a wide variety of spells and quicker weapons.

The game is a lot of fun, but feels so disjointed at the same time. It would take too long to describe why I feel that way, but I'm sure you would understand some of the reasons.

Rob

Glintstone Phalanx is great! It doesn't use a lot of FP and some (regular) enemies it can critical hit right away to leave them prone. In comparison there is a sorcery which gives you a lot more defensive daggers and it SUCKS mainly because it really doesn't do much more damage and doesn't leave the enemy prone.

Rob

The last 1/3 of the game is where the shine came off a bit, mostly because it feels like they rushed the end of development to get it out. Another 12 months and it would have been close to a perfect game. As it stands, though, it's a very impressive achievement.

Can't believe the XBOX networking is STILL borked on it.

Those hands are nightmare fuel

I’ve been doing a lot of exploring but really not much progressing. I just can’t get a handle on melee with how aggressive most of the bosses are.

Right now I’m about level 35 I think, samurai with a str/dex build. have beaten Margit and Leonid, but just can’t seem to make much more headway.

I got the PS5 version. I never touch my Xbox Series X and maybe I'll sell it...

Anyhow, the story just seems rather secondary to the random exploring and non-essential boss fights you encounter. It's too easy to lose track of side quests because the game does nothing to help you keep track. It doesn't need to be THAT unhelpful....

I found another larval tear so I'm going to rebalance once more. Mining 50,000+ runes per level is too tedious now.

Rob

Now into an darkened forest area teeming with enemies that spew death blight. I beat worm face and he wasn't too difficult.... But man, there are just so many death blight enemies.. They are not difficult to kill either, but it is really tedious! Pretty much anything affects them like fire, lightning and poison...

Sounds like they are saying 'electric pain' or something mcbain... Well that's what I hear

Rob

There saying Nicko McBrain

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Glad I just saw this post as like others this game has consumed me. Pinball what's that? I'm up to level 128 after 177 hours of playing. I'm lucky to put twenty hours into most games, but man this one has pulled me in for the fantastic ride. I'm a big fan of Nioh so this play style has really worked well for me. I've only used one weapon though the entire game and that being the Blood Fang Sword which I have up to +8 or +9 now as I need some sombering dragon stone now to upgrade it again which I haven't found yet. These type of games typically get way to hard way to fast for me and I just give up, but staying with it and like others have said keep upgrading your main weapon and you'll soon become a force to be reckoned with.

I will say the side quests are extremely complicated and long and without using any guides I wouldn't have completed any of them most likely. The action and atmosphere are so incredible though I rarely even keep up with the details of the story. Also once you get the Mimic Tear use that summons all the time as it's incredible to basically have two of me fighting the boss each time. Makes a huge difference and it takes a lot of punishment before he dies. Fantastic game and wish I wasn't at work as I'd definitely be home playing right now.

Also I have a heavy melee build and have found with 75% of the bosses it's actually best to just stand face to face with them and dodge roll there attacks and keep smashing away at them as when you get farther away they do stupid crazy attacks that aren't the easiest to dodge many times. Took me a few hours to finally take down the Comander Niall boss. He definitely gave me a challenge.

neat thread. I'm about 6 hours in and most of this is greek to me. I'm enjoying figuring things out though.

It certainly does keep pulling you back!

Rob

Not sure of your history with FromSoftware games, but if you're looking for story and helpful hints you're gonna be disappointed. The world/environment and hard bosses is the whole point. Elden Ring is the most accessible game they have ever made.

That boss almost made me break my controller. With a strength melee build, you definitely need to be aggressive and have plenty of endurance.

It really should be better sales than Godzilla.
https://collider.com/elden-ring-sales-numbers-12-million/ I think more people have bought the game than ever played Godzilla. Possibly more already played elden ring than Godzilla pinball or that ever will.
It is what it is. I love my niche market, pinball.

I finally beat the fire giant. Took me 2 days , but I beat him

Just got the game last Thursday. Put in about 25+ hours so far over the last 5 or so days. Man, I haven't been so engrossed in a game since PS4 God of War. There is just so much in this game, it's almost overwhelming. I started off as a bandit and running and Dex dual wield build. Right now I'm switching between 2 bloodloss daggers and the uchigatana. I'm looking for a second katana so I can dual wield katanas. Needless to say, I absolutely love this game right now. Frustrating for sure, but the great thing is that you can always go away and come back if you feel like you're being overpowered (at least for now).

And thanks to the person/people that said that it was ok to use the internet as a resource. I'm usually a go-in-blind type of player because I don't want spoilers, but getting my hands on a few early key weapons made a HUGE difference. I'm continuing to progress nicely, the difficulty curve ramping up just enough to get to the next level. This for me, is a nearly perfect game.

Some things I do for every boss. bloodloss has worked well for me. Always use the spirit bell. I believe you get wolves and the jellyfish pretty early. They can both be good distractions for the bosses. The jellyfish can be a sponge for you. If you are feeling overpowered, go somewhere else, level up, get some new gear, and head back to bully them If you have a lot of runes, then grind to level up before you head into a big fight. That way, if/when you die, you won't have to worry about recovering a lot of runes. As a matter of fact, I've let myself go to zero (losing only a few hundred at most) just so that I'm not distracted by it.

If you're running a Samurai str/dex build, then you should have the uchigatana as your starting weapon. From what I've seen and read, this weapon could likely carry you through the majority of the game. Seek out smithing stones and level that sucker up! With STR, you can probably use a few good shields (vs dodging). Not sure what your load out is, but I'm sure you'll find something that will work.

For sure it's made as a community game. I always check the messages that are posted and they've been super helpful on warnings or giving directions etc. For the most part, they are usually helpful. Very rarely have a seen a "Try jumping" and then jumped to my death (I'm looking at you Demons Souls lol)

I turned the online off so the messages on the ground don’t show up.

I HATE when people intentionally post online messages right over points where you need to press a button to climb a ladder, rest at grace or something else. They are probably trying to trick people into reading messages... Any rating gives them a health boost when that happens.

Anyhow, I just got to a part of the game where it's been giving me multiple larval tears. After struggling to find just one, now I suddenly have 8 in a matter of an hour play. Ridiculous...

The copy/paste of certain larger areas is really confusing. I don't know if there's significance to this or it's just cutting corners.

No idea what class my character is... He just uses what he can and makes do...

Rob

I'm enjoying ER. I played Demon Souls when it came out (~2008) and it was a wake up call when it came to video games.
Played each Souls game since, and ER has so much to it; some parts are easier, some parts are much harder than prior souls game.

I don't mind cheesing strats when I can. Died enough in my life already, lol

To me, TMNT is like pinball version of a Souls game: it's hard for me, and makes me curse it, maybe 1 ball out of several gives me some good rewards, but soon as I drain, I start another game.

I didn't know getting a rating on a message gives you a health boost. Is it a permanent stat increase or just a little blip when you've got HP to fill?

I think each of the areas are pretty unique and some are just plain beautiful. Siofra River comes to mind. I found it accidentally, and probably slightly under-powered, but still managed to run through it. I'm going to have to go back and beat the boss that's there, and explore more thoroughly, but really great level design and imagery.

I’m sure everyone knows, but for those who don’t. This guys videos are awesome.

I'm pretty much on the end stretch of the game now (I think).

What a ride its been, I honestly don't know how any game I play next is going to measure up. I may just have to start this again on NG+ and maybe go through as a different build. I did use online groups and guides so I've seen most of what the game has to offer (in terms of side quests etc). Amazing really - I found some of the side quests to be the most epic parts of the game, and a lot of people could miss them out entirely!

It has been rage inducing just a few times - and this is coming from someone who has finished all the other games in the series. On the whole though, I think I'd put this down as my all time best game ever - maaaaaybe just possibly tied with Resident Evil 4. It's an absolutely astounding achievement - I still can't quite fathom the scale of the world they've built here. Yes it doesn't have much "interaction" outside of hitting things with your sword, but the variety on offer and the way it's all seemlessly stitched together is nothing short of jaw-dropping.

There are only a handful of games that stand out in my mind so vividly and have had such a big impact. This is literally the kind of game I would have dreamed of playing when I was a young lad (way back in the 80's). I'm a lot older now and it takes a lot to wow me, but hats off to all involved, it's been a pleasure and a privilege to play something so brilliantly well designed and executed.

Turn them on. Some of them are very clever/funny. Like extreme haiku given the limited word choices to string together.

Anyone else think rot is probably too strong in the game as a weapon? It sure makes some bosses easier.

Rob

I agree rot is too strong, same with bleed.
I found the most disappointing boss battles were the ones where I felt OP.

At least rot doesn't work on everything....

One huge annoyance is finding/getting things and then not being able to locate it in my inventory.

Rob

So all finished last night. 104 hours on the clock, and level 145.

I think I did pretty much all the side quests and optional stuff besides the red guy who sits in the Roundtable Hold, because he gave me a key which I never used (I didn't find his cell in the sewer, but I did find the boss down there).

Don't think I've ever played a game with such consistent quality, and even after 104 hours it still had it's hooks into me I still could have gone on and done a lot more. Nevertheless, as far as game content is concerned, this goes way beyond what's expected.

The question now is - what can I possibly play that will measure up to this? Everything else is going to seem very underwhelming. Well I have Rick and Morty (pinball) arriving next week that'll certainly help ha ha...

Now it’s time for new game + ha ha

Yeah I thought the same thing but I stuck with intelligence & didn’t bother about faith. I might try that next build. Those incantations look cool though.

Yeah definitely, as far as I know there are 6 or 7 different endings.
I had to play through three times to fully complete.