Video Games

[Devin]

I fought one of the giants that like to hang down by the beach. Had that bastard about 75% dead before getting wasted.

Don't sleep on fully charged R2 attacks and jumping R2 attacks - these do WAY more poise damage than R1's and most L2's

Every enemy has an invisible poise bar that decreases with consistent attacks (wait too long between attacks and that "bar" resets)

When you fully deplete that bar the enemy will become stunned and open to a critical attack

2 or 3 charged R2's with the Claymore will be enough to make those giants crumble to their knees - at that point run up to their face and press R1 while holding forward to do the critical attack

It's generally the best way to fight most "giant" enemies

 

[Whizzinby]

Finished last night with my dude at 25 Vigor, 20 Endurance, and 17 strength. (The only three stats I’ve been pumping with my Vagabond) I think I’m going to focus on spamming Vigor until I get to 30 now.

I was able to defeat the caravan. It’s getting a little grindy, but the soldiers in woods, soldiers in camp, caravan and babarian camp loop is at least still letting me level up after two passes.

Today’s goal is to figure out spirit summoning which I haven’t used yet for a fight and the ash of war stuff. I think I’m probably at a point where I need to be using those.

well basically, the unofficial but common knowledge and wisdom say that: going Limgrave->west Limgrave->weeping peninsula is a logical progression. Both in difficulty and gear/enemies/bosses.

Noted.

Don't sleep on fully charged R2 attacks and jumping R2 attacks - these do WAY more poise damage than R1's and most L2's

Every enemy has an invisible poise bar that decreases with consistent attacks (wait too long between attacks and that "bar" resets)

When you fully deplete that bar the enemy will become stunned and open to a critical attack

2 or 3 charged R2's with the Claymore will be enough to make those giants crumble to their knees - at that point run up to their face and press R1 while holding forward to do the critical attack

It's generally the best way to fight most "giant" enemies

I never use LT, looks like some sort of shield attack. (I’m still a shield user lol) I’m doing a lot of noob RB/RTspamming, as I never really feel like I have time for RTcharging unless it’s a soldier or someone I’m really comfortable with.

It’s taking me some time with my fighting. I didn’t realize until yesterday that holding the shield button was draining my stamina. I found myself in some Impaler Catacomb and the little rat/monkey bastards we’re lighting me up and I couldn’t figure out why my roll was gone, then it dawned on me I can’t perpetually hold block.

I need to work on jump attacks. I never use it but should.

My fighting in general is still a work in progress

 

[Devin]

I never use LT, looks like some sort of shield attack.

Yeah you lose access to all the fancy special moves (Ashes of War) if you are holding a shield

If you put the shield away and pressed L2 you'd do the Lion's Claw attack which is super badass

Alternatively you can purchase the "No Skill" ash of war and apply if to your shield; then your L2 will ignore the shield and do the weapon's special attack instead

 

[laxu]

Finished last night with my dude at 25 Vigor, 20 Endurance, and 17 strength. (The only three stats I’ve been pumping with my Vagabond) I think I’m going to focus on spamming Vigor until I get to 30 now.

I think you can put some more in Strength now. I'd aim for 20 which should make it possible to use more weapons as you find them.

Today’s goal is to figure out spirit summoning which I haven’t used yet for a fight and the ash of war stuff. I think I’m probably at a point where I need to be using those.

Spirit summoning can only be done when you see a ghost gravestone icon on screen.

I liked to set two different summons to the secondary quick slots (hold whatever button it was + D-pad) left/right. That way they are quick to summon when needed. It can be a good idea sometimes to summon them in the middle of the fight too rather than at the start.

I never use LT, looks like some sort of shield attack. (I’m still a shield user lol) I’m doing a lot of noob RB/RTspamming, as I never really feel like I have time for RTcharging unless it’s a soldier or someone I’m really comfortable with.

L2 is the special skill on the left hand weapon/shield. These can be highly useful, and you can swap different ashes of war into them to find something you find more useful. Putting "no skill" on here can also be useful as it can allow you to use your right hand weapon skill instead, even when one handing it.

R2 charging can be very powerful and is easier to pull off if you manage to dodge an attack by moving left/right instead of dodging or blocking. Worth testing the timing at least and see if you can use it as the opener. I think the Claymore has a stab attack in R2?

It’s taking me some time with my fighting. I didn’t realize until yesterday that holding the shield button was draining my stamina. I found myself in some Impaler Catacomb and the little rat/monkey bastards we’re lighting me up and I couldn’t figure out why my roll was gone, then it dawned on me I can’t perpetually hold block.

Holding the shield only drains stamina if you block a hit, but if you keep holding it you regain stamina slower. So it's best to pull the shield up, block an attack, lower it to regain stamina faster.

If you feel like turtling, try spears. You can use them while holding your shield up, it gives a different poke attack that does less damage, but keeps you safe.

I need to work on jump attacks. I never use it but should.

They were the most difficult for me to remember to use as a veteran Souls player since you don't have them in anything but Sekiro. They are very powerful in ER.

 

[the swede]

Finished last night with my dude at 25 Vigor, 20 Endurance, and 17 strength. (The only three stats I’ve been pumping with my Vagabond) I think I’m going to focus on spamming Vigor until I get to 30 now.

20 vigor and 20 strength is about as ready to leave Limgrave as it can get. Be warned. The game has several different area thresholds regarding enemies vs your stats. Get the fuck out of Limgrave Tarnished! At least explore Weeping as there are a few minor bosses and one main hooligan there

I was able to defeat the caravan. It’s getting a little grindy, but the soldiers in woods, soldiers in camp, caravan and babarian camp loop is at least still letting me level up after two passes.

Ok. That’s enough already. Now visit the bridge the caravan goes over…. At night.

Today’s goal is to figure out spirit summoning which I haven’t used yet for a fight and the ash of war stuff. I think I’m probably at a point where I need to be using those.

Use spirit summons for boss like jerks, or bosses. The end of catacombs/mines etc etc. when the white sign shows up, it’s a good indication that you could need the spirits. You’ll be rewarded with more spirit types as you explore. Some at OP as hell, while some early ones that are almost handed to you are just as OP depending on the enemy’s weakness. Early on you should get three wolves, they’re actually quite good. Don’t dismiss them because you got them early.

Ashes of War for weapons is another rabbithole you should investigate further, basically they could possibly make the most simplest and ordinary sword be the bomb. That’s another thing with ER, you can do the whole game with a standard starting weapon if you like that weapon.

Most experienced players get their kicks out of the weapons move-set. Some like fast moving swords, and some like slow ass heavy gigantic tools, and some like a pink wand with a little purple plug in the end to wave around with.

I need to work on jump attacks. I never use it but should.

You should, a two handed jump attack is the shit! you will do that a lot…. Yooooooouuuu wiiiiiiiill

 

[Whizzinby]

Captains Log:

Ended the day at 26, 20 and 20 for Vigor, Endurance and Strength. I was so close to quitting earlier. I was just dying every time I tried to engage anyone difficult and then I got absolutely destroyed in some catacomb, by a cat looking thing breathing fire. After walking away for a bit the Elden Gods started to tip luck in my favor and I had a flurry of small victories. I was able to take down Fort Hait and the Mirkwood and Stormfront Catacombs.

Both my catacomb victories were results of the wolf summon. They basically distracted and wore down the boss dudes and then I snuck in for some power shots. Those green monkey things in the catacombs are the worst pieces of shit known to man. Seriously, the most annoying dudes in the game so far.

Some blood finger dude kicked my ass real proper like and I decided to go back for one more round and the raiden looking dude came out of nowhere to tag team him with me. I was sooo pumped.

I got a bunch of ash crap in the catacombs that I’ll need to look at tomorrow.

Amazing what one semi decent session will do for your confidence.

Question: Do you guys upgrade your shields? I got a Bronze Shield from the soldier camp, which ive replaced my heater shield with and I’m wondering if it’s worth upgrading.

 

[dbagchee]

Nice progress!!

 

[the swede]

by a cat looking thing breathing fire.

hate those cat bastards (see what I wrote there… “those”) they’re easily one of the most annoying boss types there is.

Both my catacomb victories were results of the wolf summon. They basically distracted and wore down the boss dudes and then I snuck in for some power shots.

Nice, good job!

Those green monkey things in the catacombs are the worst pieces of shit known to man. Seriously, the most annoying dudes in the game so far.

Oh yeah, hate those. They make one get angry and swear, alot

 

[Devin]

Question: Do you guys upgrade your shields? I got a Bronze Shield from the soldier camp, which ive replaced my heater shield with and I’m wondering if it’s worth upgrading.

If I remember right the Brass Shield has 100 physical damage negation by default (and decently high guard boost) so in my opinion it would generally be a waste of upgrade stones. It's a great shield right off rip

Do you know about Guard Counters? If you press R2 the moment after you block an attack you'll perform a big dick Guard Counter attack for high damage and high poise damage; you should definitely lean in to using these a lot if you plan on running a shield full time

You'll know you've performed it correctly when you hear a CHACHING sound lol; it's very easy to do

 

[laxu]

Those green monkey things in the catacombs are the worst pieces of shit known to man. Seriously, the most annoying dudes in the game so far.

The impa are total bastards. Being made of stone, they are weak to blunt weapons and shields are good at blocking their "run and swing" attacks.

Question: Do you guys upgrade your shields? I got a Bronze Shield from the soldier camp, which ive replaced my heater shield with and I’m wondering if it’s worth upgrading.

Not until you get something good, and even then it's questionable. The upgrades might give you a bit more damage reduction and stability but nothing major. I'd save your upgrade materials for weapons.

Generally you just want to look at the stats of the shield where e.g 100% physical damage reduction is good, but for some areas e.g high magic or fire damage reduction can help.

 

[Jarick]

Alright I got to the final big secret puzzle in Tunic, hit my head against the wall for a while, then looked it up and it's not really part of the game but takes you to some other puzzle crap. Not worth it.

So I've got to basically beat the final boss and then that's that. Really cool game, would recommend.

 

[Whizzinby]

Pace slowed back down. Kind of at a standstill. Can’t kill the fire breathing cat bastard, tree sentinel, dragon, or fire arrow shooting giant at Castle Morne etc. I did get my Claymore up to +4 but can’t go higher without Smithing Stone #2. (Have a million #1) Slaughtered the soldiers enough to level 28, 20, 20 - V, E, S. Was thinking about dumping a couple points into dex to round it up from 13 to 15. Maybe worth it to improve my R1 attack and damage resistance? (Or keep pumping V, E, S?)

 

[Aelred]

It takes some practice and getting used to, but the Erdtree Burial Watchdogs (range attacks at low level), Tree Sentinels and Dragons – all optional – become easier and even routine over time and learning their moves.

Getting to Iji in Liurnia to purchase up to +4 Somber Smithing stones is something I do early. You can ride around the back of Stormveil/Margit to get there.

Strength is often considered the best stat, especially for Noobs. When you two-hand Str weapons you get a nice attack bonus you can’t get with other stats.

You won’t know what weapons to aim for yet, and some of the best are Boss weapons later on. Get down to Weeping Peninsula and kill the Boss there (Castle Morne.. Run around the giant) for a really nice Greatsword. If it tells you that you don’t have the Strength for it, two-hand it. Get it to +4 ASAP.

Bonking things will become a lot easier.

 

[laxu]

Pace slowed back down. Kind of at a standstill. Can’t kill the fire breathing cat bastard, tree sentinel, dragon, or fire arrow shooting giant at Castle Morne etc.

If by cat you mean the stone cat in the catacombs, it is weak to lightning so if you have anything that can lightning buff your sword, use that. Easiest way to do it should be to use a summon to draw its ire and slap it in the booty.
Tree sentinel is not that worth killing in the first place so I wouldn't make it a priority.
Same for arrow shooting giant, but it's basically "ride close to it by zig-zagging and jumping around, then smack its feet until it falls down, then do a critical attack on its chest".

I did get my Claymore up to +4 but can’t go higher without Smithing Stone #2. (Have a million #1) Slaughtered the soldiers enough to level 28, 20, 20 - V, E, S. Was thinking about dumping a couple points into dex to round it up from 13 to 15. Maybe worth it to improve my R1 attack and damage resistance? (Or keep pumping V, E, S?)

Upgrading Dex will just raise your damage resistance and give you slightly more extra damage but you would get the extra damage by putting your stats in Strength too. Just depends on if you want to aim for a Str/Dex build, or maybe use Str/Dex scaling weapons that require a bit higher Dex stat.

Remember that stat investments are not permanent, you can respec them later if needed, but it's usually not needed unless you want to drastically change your build, not for "oh I put two points in the wrong stat" type stuff.

 

[the swede]

Pace slowed back down. Kind of at a standstill. Can’t kill the fire breathing cat bastard, tree sentinel, dragon, or fire arrow shooting giant at Castle Morne etc. I did get my Claymore up to +4 but can’t go higher without Smithing Stone #2. (Have a million #1) Slaughtered the soldiers enough to level 28, 20, 20 - V, E, S. Was thinking about dumping a couple points into dex to round it up from 13 to 15. Maybe worth it to improve my R1 attack and damage resistance? (Or keep pumping V, E, S?)

Learn the cats moves, it varies a little but it has a “set” of moves. Irritate it with summons to draw its attention, wolves do that. Hit the damn cat with jump attacks from behind while the wolves are alive.

Tree sentinel in Limgrave is not really meant to deal with now. Do that later because you will come back to the starting building (for a difficult task) later anyway (if you remember a certain thing about that building though.

Dragon in Limgrave is meant to be deal with together with a NPC dude you encounter in Limgrave. It’s doable but I’d say do that later when you feel you done with Limgrave/weeping, alternatively after Stormveil castle.

Castle morne is a fun adventure, and you should push that. The giant that throws spears at you is not that difficult.

 

[Whizzinby]

If by cat you mean the stone cat in the catacombs, it is weak to lightning so if you have anything that can lightning buff your sword, use that. Easiest way to do it should be to use a summon to draw its ire and slap it in the booty.
Tree sentinel is not that worth killing in the first place so I wouldn't make it a priority.
Same for arrow shooting giant, but it's basically "ride close to it by zig-zagging and jumping around, then smack its feet until it falls down, then do a critical attack on its chest".


Upgrading Dex will just raise your damage resistance and give you slightly more extra damage but you would get the extra damage by putting your stats in Strength too. Just depends on if you want to aim for a Str/Dex build, or maybe use Str/Dex scaling weapons that require a bit higher Dex stat.

Remember that stat investments are not permanent, you can respec them later if needed, but it's usually not needed unless you want to drastically change your build, not for "oh I put two points in the wrong stat" type stuff.

Yeah I was kind of wondering if there was a point later in the game where you eventually dump points in the “other” stuff like dex and mind etc because you’ve kind of spammed the key stats enough. Like when your level 120, do some people still have their dex at 13 if a weapon didn’t call for an upgrade, or have they boosted it because they’ve hit the hard caps elsewhere?

Learn the cats moves, it varies a little but it has a “set” of moves. Irritate it with summons to draw its attention, wolves do that. Hit the damn cat with jump attacks from behind while the wolves are alive.

Tree sentinel in Limgrave is not really meant to deal with now. Do that later because you will come back to the starting building (for a difficult task) later anyway (if you remember a certain thing about that building though.

Dragon in Limgrave is meant to be deal with together with a NPC dude you encounter in Limgrave. It’s doable but I’d say do that later when you feel you done with Limgrave/weeping, alternatively after Stormveil castle.

Castle morne is a fun adventure, and you should push that. The giant that throws spears at you is not that difficult.

The problem isn’t so much the cat, it’s the little green monkey bastards in the arena with him. I’ll go to stab the cat in the ass and then one of those dudes nail me with a three piece combo w/ bleed damage. Then I’m scrambling back to hit a recovery flask and here comes another one, or the cat is now breathing fire.

I probably just need to play him more. I generally play him once a session and then say f it and go ride around elsewhere.

I guess I’m at a point where I don’t know is there some key event I should be doing at the main castle to the north, or am I going to trigger some event elsewhere. In the interim I’m just trying to stat grind until I can beat some of these other big bads.

 

[laxu]

Yeah I was kind of wondering if there was a point later in the game where you eventually dump points in the “other” stuff like dex and mind etc because you’ve kind of spammed the key stats enough. Like when your level 120, do some people still have their dex at 13 if a weapon didn’t call for an upgrade, or have they boosted it because they’ve hit the hard caps elsewhere?

If I remember correctly there are multiple "soft caps" for all skill points. After those you get diminishing returns per skill point. If I remember correctly these are at something like 40 and 60. For a STR/DEX build 40/40 stats are common, with rest spread on Vigor, Endurance etc.

There's also a point where adding more to Endurance is not useful unless you plan to wear the heaviest armors for poise. Eventually your stamina bar is bigger than you'd need most of the time.

The problem isn’t so much the cat, it’s the little green monkey bastards in the arena with him. I’ll go to stab the cat in the ass and then one of those dudes nail me with a three piece combo w/ bleed damage. Then I’m scrambling back to hit a recovery flask and here comes another one, or the cat is now breathing fire.

Try a summon to draw one of them away, then focus on getting the little shits dead using a shield for protection and your Claymore.

I guess I’m at a point where I don’t know is there some key event I should be doing at the main castle to the north, or am I going to trigger some event elsewhere. In the interim I’m just trying to stat grind until I can beat some of these other big bads.

EDIT: Sorry, miswrote. Liurnia of the lakes is after the castle in the north. But yes, after you have completed Castle Morne, you should aim that way.

 

[the swede]

Yeah I was kind of wondering if there was a point later in the game where you eventually dump points in the “other” stuff like dex and mind etc because you’ve kind of spammed the key stats enough. Like when your level 120, do some people still have their dex at 13 if a weapon didn’t call for an upgrade, or have they boosted it because they’ve hit the hard caps elsewhere?

Some builds are very focused on certain stats yes. In your case doing strength and vigor you should also consider being able to carry heavy stuff and dex also. You’ll learn what to focus on based on weapon stats.

The problem isn’t so much the cat, it’s the little green monkey bastards in the arena with him. I’ll go to stab the cat in the ass and then one of those dudes nail me with a three piece combo w/ bleed damage. Then I’m scrambling back to hit a recovery flask and here comes another one, or the cat is now breathing fire.

Ohhhhh. Those little ones… them first, just straight up kill them as soon as you can, I did it like that. Then cat bastard.

I probably just need to play him more. I generally play him once a session and then say f it and go ride around elsewhere.

Let him be. Or just do it until you beat him. I mean…. He’s not impossible.

I guess I’m at a point where I don’t know is there some key event I should be doing at the main castle to the north, or am I going to trigger some event elsewhere. In the interim I’m just trying to stat grind until I can beat some of these other big bads.

The graces point you there, so yeah, you should go there. You won’t be triggering many events in Limgrave/weeping, except maybe some smaller quests.
The thing is, the game tries to scare you constantly. Some “main” bosses might just be scary for show, some random enemies can be waaaay more difficult than bosses. But main story bosses is a “show” or event dramatically speaking.

 

[Jynx]

I love reading noob adventures on Elden Ring. I wish I could experience first time on a Souls game again.

 

[Jynx]

As for those green monkey fuckers. Get a 100% damage resist shield. Let them come at you and hit it. They will bounce off it. Immediately after they hit it press R2 to do a guard counter. This will drop them to their knees. R1 to execute them.