Video Games

[Devin]

Upgraded to +24. "Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone" sounds important, so I'm saving them LOL. A-a-n-d then I had to go to bed.

Between the base game and the DLC you can find at least 10 ancient dragon stones; probably even more tbh

 

[mbenigni]

Between the base game and the DLC you can find at least 10 ancient dragon stones; probably even more tbh

So far I have 3, and I've probably only used 1. Apparently, I wasn't as thorough with the base game as I'd imagined.

For instance, yesterday was the first time I'd heard of this "Tiche" summons, which I gather is some kind of big deal...

 

[mbenigni]

No just two-hand it and you'll get a blade in each hand

You'll definitely want to do this too because the one-handed move set sucks in comparison

It's going to take me a while to re-program my brain. I'm a reflexive shield turtle.

 

[laxu]

Between the base game and the DLC you can find at least 10 ancient dragon stones; probably even more tbh

I think I have something like 13 still left, picked up at least 3 from the DLC. So I wouldn't worry too much if you want to upgrade your absolute favorite weapon to max. The Somber Ancient Dragon Stone is more rare and valuable.

 

[laxu]

Well, it finally happened. The left shoulder button on my Steam Controller broke! The same thing happend to the previous one when I played Sekiro which requires you to spam the everliving shit out of that button to parry.

The Steam Controller shoulder buttons have this small flexing plastic part that breaks and then the button no longer functions. It's just genuinely bad design. To fix it people have 3D printed parts or replaced it with a piece of metal. I really should buy a 3D printer at some point for stuff like this since I actually have decent amount of experience with 3D modeling.

But now I need to go back to either using a PS4 controller, or find some alternative because the Steam Controller is no longer sold and Valve has so far not released a replacement. I've liked the SC because of the back paddle buttons and the touchpad is good for camera movement in games where it works as a mouse.

 

[Devin]

I use the standard PS5 Dualsense controllers for Steam myself and find they work great, but if you need the extra buttons I suppose that won't do

 

[Devin]

I think I have something like 13 still left, picked up at least 3 from the DLC. So I wouldn't worry too much if you want to upgrade your absolute favorite weapon to max. The Somber Ancient Dragon Stone is more rare and valuable.

Yeah I think currently I have 9 or 10 weapons maxed out and still have close to 10 of each max stone left

 

[laxu]

I use the standard PS5 Dualsense controllers for Steam myself and find they work great, but if you need the extra buttons I suppose that won't do

Yeah the PS4/PS5 controllers work well but the lack of those extra buttons is annoying. I'll have to see if I can buy a DualSense Edge at a reasonable price in a month when I go to Japan.

 

[GreatGreen]

I just put 40+ hours into the DLC and beat it.

What a ride.

Some of the bosses were way too overtuned but overall it was a fantastic addition to one of the greatest games ever made.

 

[Devin]

Pretty sure I'm at the final boss's fog gate but I decided to go ride around and reach the couple places on the map I hadn't been to; I'll probably finish it tonight

 

[mbenigni]

Shadow the Erdtree has just about convinced me that I hate Elden Ring. I loved a lot of things about ER, but... but everything that I just kind of tolerated about it feels magnified 10x over: the tedious scrubbing across a pointlessly vast open world, and the annoying gate-keeping by arbitrarily hard bosses that aren't as much fun as the process of discovery (in legacy dungeons, at least) in between.

If Rellana isn't what I'm supposed to be doing next, then I've lost the plot, and I just don't feel like doing a bunch of perimeter walks again to try and find it.

If Rellana is what I'm supposed to be doing next... then f*** you very much FromSoft. I've tried this a dozen different ways, and even when I "get it right", there's some cheap insta-kill at the very end. If I manage endure enough "Unable to summon" messages to have some help, I get to watch them get insta-killed almost immediately. At this point, it's just dull. Except when it's infuriating.

 

[laxu]

Shadow the Erdtree has just about convinced me that I hate Elden Ring. I loved a lot of things about ER, but... but everything that I just kind of tolerated about it feels magnified 10x over: the tedious scrubbing across a pointlessly vast open world, and the annoying gate-keeping by arbitrarily hard bosses that aren't as much fun as the process of discovery (in legacy dungeons, at least) in between.

If Rellana isn't what I'm supposed to be doing next, then I've lost the plot, and I just don't feel like doing a bunch of perimeter walks again to try and find it.

If Rellana is what I'm supposed to be doing next... then f*** you very much FromSoft. I've tried this a dozen different ways, and even when I "get it right", there's some cheap insta-kill at the very end. If I manage endure enough "Unable to summon" messages to have some help, I get to watch them get insta-killed almost immediately. At this point, it's just dull. Except when it's infuriating.

I found that I liked the DLC a lot more now that I've got over 10 Scarutree Blessings, and raised my Vigor to 55. Otherwise it was low damage and getting killed really quickly. Now it starts to feel closer to the basegame so you feel like you actually have a fighting chance. Even took down one of the mausoleum bosses in one try.

The DLC has some really good bosses. Rellana is one of them, even though that bubble ball move really should have been something she does in phase one so you can actually learn how to avoid it. Metyr and Bug Lady were really good.

It also has some garbage. Bayle is a camera boss (haven't defeated him yet), and all the dragons are just padding. Messmer and Lion are doing stuff that makes it hard to see what is happening. The fire giants are just really boring to fight. Hit the legs, jump over the stomps, repeat until they tumble and then do a critical.

 

[Devin]

Shadow the Erdtree has just about convinced me that I hate Elden Ring. I loved a lot of things about ER, but... but everything that I just kind of tolerated about it feels magnified 10x over: the tedious scrubbing across a pointlessly vast open world, and the annoying gate-keeping by arbitrarily hard bosses that aren't as much fun as the process of discovery (in legacy dungeons, at least) in between.

If Rellana isn't what I'm supposed to be doing next, then I've lost the plot, and I just don't feel like doing a bunch of perimeter walks again to try and find it.

If Rellana is what I'm supposed to be doing next... then f*** you very much FromSoft. I've tried this a dozen different ways, and even when I "get it right", there's some cheap insta-kill at the very end. If I manage endure enough "Unable to summon" messages to have some help, I get to watch them get insta-killed almost immediately. At this point, it's just dull. Except when it's infuriating.

Did ya try the Blood Backhand blades?

If you and Mimic are both using those she should go down relatively quick; don't sleep on Blindspot for phasing through her attacks and smacking her ass lol

If by chance you're on PS5 I'd be happy to try and help!

 

[Devin]

I found that I liked the DLC a lot more now that I've got over 10 Scarutree Blessings, and raised my Vigor to 55. Otherwise it was low damage and getting killed really quickly. Now it starts to feel closer to the basegame so you feel like you actually have a fighting chance. Even took down one of the mausoleum bosses in one try.

The DLC has some really good bosses. Rellana is one of them, even though that bubble ball move really should have been something she does in phase one so you can actually learn how to avoid it. Metyr and Bug Lady were really good.

It also has some garbage. Bayle is a camera boss (haven't defeated him yet), and all the dragons are just padding. Messmer and Lion are doing stuff that makes it hard to see what is happening. The fire giants are just really boring to fight. Hit the legs, jump over the stomps, repeat until they tumble and then do a critical.

What did you think of Commander Gaius?

That's the one boss I consider absolute garbage tier lol.....no fun to be had there

 

[mbenigni]

Did ya try the Blood Backhand blades?

If you and Mimic are both using those she should go down relatively quick; don't sleep on Blindspot for phasing through her attacks and smacking her ass lol

If by chance you're on PS5 I'd be happy to try and help!

Yes to backhand blades - definitely helped. I don’t know what mimic is lol. Would love some help if we happen to be online at the same time - thanks!

 

[Devin]

Yes to backhand blades. I don’t know what mimic is lol. Would love some help if we happen to be online at the same time - thanks!

You don't have the Mimic Tear summon? If not dude that will make your life so much easier lol

It summons a clone of your player with all of your currently equipped gear and items.....and like 5K HP lol

You get it by going down in the crater that appears when you beat Radahn; it's in that underground city

 

[Devin]

Yes to backhand blades - definitely helped. I don’t know what mimic is lol. Would love some help if we happen to be online at the same time - thanks!

My PSN name is passy_lips if you'd like to add me as a pal sir

 

[mbenigni]

You don't have the Mimic Tear summon? If not dude that will make your life so much easier lol

It summons a clone of your player with all of your currently equipped gear and items.....and like 5K HP lol

You get it by going down in the crater that appears when you beat Radahn; it's in that underground city

Now that you mention it, I did use that guy for a brief while… and then forgot all about him.

Will def. add you. It will be my first time using non-random multiplayer. (What a floozy LOL.)

 

[laxu]

What did you think of Commander Gaius?

That's the one boss I consider absolute garbage tier lol.....no fun to be had there

Forgot about him. I tried him a lot of times and that damn boar's hitbox when it's running at you is ridiculous.

 

[laxu]

Now that you mention it, I did use that guy for a brief while… and then forgot all about him.

I have Mimic Tear and Tiche as my main summons in the Triangle + D-pad menu. Tiche is top tier. She's pretty fast and can do I think bleed or rot on enemies. 6K health at +10 upgrade too.

The only problem is that the NPC summons are really dumb so they will just run into any AOE attacks, but they can usually get you to phase two of a boss pretty fast.