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Elden Ring - Information Thread, update (02/21): "Shadow of the Erdtree" expansion to release on June 21 ($40 Standard/$50 Deluxe)


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If there was one thing that really changed my enjoyment of this game, it was the discovery (via youtube) of a simple, no risk, high-reward rune farm. I'm sure plenty of people wouldn't want to play that way, but it completely changed my attitude and alleviated much of my frustration.

 

A small part of it was that it made any level grinding much easier, though I rarely actually used it for that. Mostly I would just see that I was close to a level point, jump over to the farm spot, finish my level, and then continue on my way.

 

The bigger part of it was I just stopped caring about lost runes. The farm I've been using will get me 13k in ~30 seconds, so whenever I died, I'd just think, "that's about x minutes worth of grinding" and not worry about it, because even if those runes were earned over 45 minutes of playtime, it was probably only a minute or two of farming. Maybe I'd feel like I could get through in a few tries, or maybe I'd just leave and decide to come back when I was stronger, but either way recovering runes was no longer a source of constant frustration.

 

Not caring about runes, and therefore death, really made it so much more fun to explore and take the risks that I think the game wants you to take. It wants you to see if you can make that jump or wander down that other path, but when I felt like I was risking 30 minutes of runes, I'd play it safe. When that turned into 30 seconds, suddenly everything changed and I've been enjoying the game so much more.

 

As much as I take issue with the controls and the menus and the overall opaqueness of the game, if there is one central conflict inherent in the design of Elden Ring, it's how much it wants you to explore and take risks, and how much it punishes you for doing so. Being able to ignore that lost rune mechanic basically solved it for me. I still don't love silent enemies constantly ambushing you or having so few spells at my fingertips, but I'm taking so much more joy in the exploration now that it feels like a different game.

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2 hours ago, TwinIon said:

If there was one thing that really changed my enjoyment of this game, it was the discovery (via youtube) of a simple, no risk, high-reward rune farm. I'm sure plenty of people wouldn't want to play that way, but it completely changed my attitude and alleviated much of my frustration.

 

A small part of it was that it made any level grinding much easier, though I rarely actually used it for that. Mostly I would just see that I was close to a level point, jump over to the farm spot, finish my level, and then continue on my way.

 

The bigger part of it was I just stopped caring about lost runes. The farm I've been using will get me 13k in ~30 seconds, so whenever I died, I'd just think, "that's about x minutes worth of grinding" and not worry about it, because even if those runes were earned over 45 minutes of playtime, it was probably only a minute or two of farming. Maybe I'd feel like I could get through in a few tries, or maybe I'd just leave and decide to come back when I was stronger, but either way recovering runes was no longer a source of constant frustration.

 

Not caring about runes, and therefore death, really made it so much more fun to explore and take the risks that I think the game wants you to take. It wants you to see if you can make that jump or wander down that other path, but when I felt like I was risking 30 minutes of runes, I'd play it safe. When that turned into 30 seconds, suddenly everything changed and I've been enjoying the game so much more.

 

As much as I take issue with the controls and the menus and the overall opaqueness of the game, if there is one central conflict inherent in the design of Elden Ring, it's how much it wants you to explore and take risks, and how much it punishes you for doing so. Being able to ignore that lost rune mechanic basically solved it for me. I still don't love silent enemies constantly ambushing you or having so few spells at my fingertips, but I'm taking so much more joy in the exploration now that it feels like a different game.

 

Where is this rune farm? 13k in ~30 seconds would help me out considerably. 

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6 hours ago, TwinIon said:

I also got fed up with the complete lack of any decent cloth armor and just threw enough points into endurance to just use some heavy stuff. That's helped a lot, especially when I go back to lower level areas, but it still seems odd how little difference there is between the best cloth and what you start with.

 

It's called fashion souls for a reason. :p

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4 hours ago, best3444 said:

 

Where is this rune farm? 13k in ~30 seconds would help me out considerably. 

Palace Approach Ledge. To the right across the chasm there’s a bird looking thing. You can hit it with a crossbow using lock on targeting and it’ll just run off the cliff and kill itself (every so often it won’t run off, I just rest and try again). If you get the timing just right you can hit it very quickly after resting, but worst case it takes another 30 seconds or so.

 

That 13k includes using the talisman that gives an extra 20% runes. It’s only 11k or so without that.

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29 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

It's called fashion souls for a reason. :p

This is in no way aimed at you, but I sometimes I really hate that games now care so much about fashion. I’m happy that games are often priced better because some people are willing to spend a bunch of money on horse armor (Destiny 2 is a good example), but even googling to find the best armor sets ends up finding gear recommended because of how it looks. I don’t care what it looks like, I just want to survive!

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4 hours ago, TwinIon said:

Palace Approach Ledge. To the right across the chasm there’s a bird looking thing. You can hit it with a crossbow using lock on targeting and it’ll just run off the cliff and kill itself (every so often it won’t run off, I just rest and try again). If you get the timing just right you can hit it very quickly after resting, but worst case it takes another 30 seconds or so.

 

That 13k includes using the talisman that gives an extra 20% runes. It’s only 11k or so without that.

 

If you have enough damage to dispatch the sleeping enemies down that road quickly you can get another 45k+ runes. A high-damage, big area spell works well.

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13 hours ago, TwinIon said:

If there was one thing that really changed my enjoyment of this game, it was the discovery (via youtube) of a simple, no risk, high-reward rune farm. I'm sure plenty of people wouldn't want to play that way, but it completely changed my attitude and alleviated much of my frustration.

 

 

I call this "turtle taps gulley" and its a magical place where the word "genocide" doesn't even exist! :whistlin:

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You can play the game the way you want but personally I haven't grinded at all in this game. I said it earlier but you get so much XP just exploring the map. Especially later in the game when you find huge gobs of runes you find on bodies.

 

I think @TwinIon has maybe too rigid of a build. If you need to grind for something it means you're trying to be specifically one thing (and I know he wants to be solely a mage) but I think this game rewards flexibility. Sure there is the satisfaction of blasting off huge spells but in a game like this where there are so many options it's a good idea to be able to wield a weapon.

 

There's a range of engagement where things are easy and difficult and I think unless you're a mage super far away you might have some trouble. These enemies don't know what to do when you get up their ass and if you had a sword, dagger, whip you probably could have an easier time. That being said, it's probably too late for that but maybe something to keep in mind.

 

Also as I said earlier, this game is about exploration first and combat second so you should probably focus on fighting less and enjoy the other aspects of the game more. You can level up all you want but if you can't handle the basics of the game it won't matter. You could still get killed by one of those giants on the beach at the beginning of the game even if you're level 150.

 

One last thing about targeting spells  out of range from the lock-on you can still aim the spell with the right stick and fire it off. It takes some guessing depending on the spell (like a fireball) but it can work.

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11 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

You can play the game the way you want but personally I haven't grinded at all in this game. I said it earlier but you get so much XP just exploring the map. Especially later in the game when you find huge gobs of runes you find on bodies.

 

I think @TwinIon has maybe too rigid of a build. If you need to grind for something it means you're trying to be specifically one thing (and I know he wants to be solely a mage) but I think this game rewards flexibility. Sure there is the satisfaction of blasting off huge spells but in a game like this where there are so many options it's a good idea to be able to wield a weapon.

 

There's a range of engagement where things are easy and difficult and I think unless you're a mage super far away you might have some trouble. These enemies don't know what to do when you get up their ass and if you had a sword, dagger, whip you probably could have an easier time. That being said, it's probably too late for that but maybe something to keep in mind.

 

Also as I said earlier, this game is about exploration first and combat second so you should probably focus on fighting less and enjoy the other aspects of the game more. You can level up all you want but if you can't handle the basics of the game it won't matter. You could still get killed by one of those giants on the beach at the beginning of the game even if you're level 150.

 

One last thing about targeting spells  out of range from the lock-on you can still aim the spell with the right stick and fire it off. It takes some guessing depending on the spell (like a fireball) but it can work.

 

So do you recommend me just continuing to explore at level 88 and keep leveling naturally? I know I have just enormous amout of world left to explore.

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6 hours ago, best3444 said:

So do you recommend me just continuing to explore at level 88 and keep leveling naturally? I know I have just enormous amout of world left to explore.

 

I can't speak for everyone but I would say give it a try. You say you know you have an enormous amount left and it's probably even more enormous than you can imagine. :p

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10 hours ago, best3444 said:

 

Were you able to beat the game that way? What level were you during the end game stuff?

 

I was level 150+ for the end game stuff, finished around 180. Used the great sword 90% of the time. I tried a couple other weapons, but always went back to the greatsword. Hardly did any farming either. Nothing took more than a couple tries. Where as I was banging my head against the wall just using a Claymore at the end game on my first run. I did follow Fightin Cowboys walkthrough to find everything. And if you do everything you can easily reach level 180 by the end of the game with little grinding. 

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44 minutes ago, Dodger said:

Nothing took more than a couple tries. Where as I was banging my head against the wall just using a Claymore at the end game on my first run.

 

I don't know about you fellas but so far the hardest enemy, more than any boss, for me is those big fatty trolls who do the kick and butt slam. If you get into an actual engagement with them it's a bit of a daunting task and there are a TON of them down in the sewers below the city (and those ones infuse holy damage on their weapons). I've been using Elenora's Poleblade for the most part which is nice since it does bleed and fire damage but the weapon skill can generally stagger the guys in a flurry, so I use that a lot on them.

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The sewers were just annoying in general. One of the hardest enemies for me are the late game stone cat things, especially since there are dungeons where there are a couple that respawn, and one has you fight two at once. Those things got more annoying than they should have been. I also died to more crucible knights than I care to admit, but i suck at parrying. 

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32 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

I don't know about you fellas but so far the hardest enemy, more than any boss, for me is those big fatty trolls who do the kick and butt slam. If you get into an actual engagement with them it's a bit of a daunting task and there are a TON of them down in the sewers below the city (and those ones infuse holy damage on their weapons). I've been using Elenora's Poleblade for the most part which is nice since it does bleed and fire damage but the weapon skill can generally stagger the guys in a flurry, so I use that a lot on them.

 

They are way up there and they were the one enemy where I kept feeling like it was reading my button inputs or something, always doing the right thing to counter whatever I’m doing.

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8 hours ago, Dodger said:

 

I was level 150+ for the end game stuff, finished around 180. Used the great sword 90% of the time. I tried a couple other weapons, but always went back to the greatsword. Hardly did any farming either. Nothing took more than a couple tries. Where as I was banging my head against the wall just using a Claymore at the end game on my first run. I did follow Fightin Cowboys walkthrough to find everything. And if you do everything you can easily reach level 180 by the end of the game with little grinding. 

 

I believe I have a greatsword if I remember correctly. When the DLC hits I will continue my adventure and just discover new areas with leveling coming with the territory. I don't think I'll farm at all. I really want to play this now tbh lol.

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I've been completely stuck at Malenia. I can consistently get her down to half health in the second phase, but by then my summon is always dead, and I seem to struggle dodging her attacks in the second phase a good deal more. I wish there was a way to directly heal an ally, but from what I can tell there are only AOE heals, and that doesn't really worth that well.

 

I've googled around and seen what others have done, but it seems like the cheesiest stuff has been patched, and I don't really want to completely respec just for one boss. At level 150 something I don't really think more levels are the answer for me. I'll get it sooner or later, but this is definitely the first boss that feels significantly harder than anything I faced in GoW or other games I've played.

 

I think the core of my problem is that I can hardly get attacks off while I'm the only aggro target. In the first 3/4's of the fight (assuming there isn't a phase 3), I can do damage, get aggro, stay alive long enough for my summon to get aggro again, and repeat. When the summon dies, I have to stay alive much longer for every attack I'm able to get off, and eventually I just screw it up.

 

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Which console runs and looks better for this? PS5 or XSX?

 

I'm getting conflicting reports and also read that VRR is available for XSX which helps out the framerate a lot.

 

@stepee Any idea? I've been searching everywhere. They also mentioned the PS5 version is more vibrant than the XSX version. I remember going back to check it out on my XSX and it looked pretty washed up. 

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

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11 hours ago, best3444 said:

 

I believe I have a greatsword if I remember correctly. When the DLC hits I will continue my adventure and just discover new areas with leveling coming with the territory. I don't think I'll farm at all. I really want to play this now tbh lol.

So play it. It’s unlikely DLC is coming soon, and you aren’t going to beat the DLC until you beat the game, because it will be hard, high level content. 
 

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5 hours ago, best3444 said:

Which console runs and looks better for this? PS5 or XSX?

 

I'm getting conflicting reports and also read that VRR is available for XSX which helps out the framerate a lot.

 

@stepee Any idea? I've been searching everywhere. They also mentioned the PS5 version is more vibrant than the XSX version. I remember going back to check it out on my XSX and it looked pretty washed up. 

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

Play it on the console you own it on. There is no difference, at all, except on pc.

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9 hours ago, TwinIon said:

I've been completely stuck at Malenia. I can consistently get her down to half health in the second phase, but by then my summon is always dead, and I seem to struggle dodging her attacks in the second phase a good deal more. I wish there was a way to directly heal an ally, but from what I can tell there are only AOE heals, and that doesn't really worth that well.

 

I've googled around and seen what others have done, but it seems like the cheesiest stuff has been patched, and I don't really want to completely respec just for one boss. At level 150 something I don't really think more levels are the answer for me. I'll get it sooner or later, but this is definitely the first boss that feels significantly harder than anything I faced in GoW or other games I've played.

 

I think the core of my problem is that I can hardly get attacks off while I'm the only aggro target. In the first 3/4's of the fight (assuming there isn't a phase 3), I can do damage, get aggro, stay alive long enough for my summon to get aggro again, and repeat. When the summon dies, I have to stay alive much longer for every attack I'm able to get off, and eventually I just screw it up.

 

Are you summoning real players? I understand if you are against it in principle, but imo there’s no shame in it on that one. I could never fully learn the timing of her big attacks and quite know the range of where I should be, and she’s so damn fast. 
 

I would have a few runs solo where I’d get her close, but I couldn’t consistently even get her to the second phase. And even with two other human players it took me a while. I say summon some humans to help you and move on with your life. 

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2 minutes ago, BloodyHell said:

Play it on the console you own it on. There is no difference, at all, except on pc.

 

I own the PS5 and XSX. They said the framerate and loading are better on PS5. They mentioned it also doesn't look washed out when comparing it to the XSX version. 

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1 hour ago, best3444 said:

 

I own the PS5 and XSX. They said the framerate and loading are better on PS5. They mentioned it also doesn't look washed out when comparing it to the XSX version. 

Yes, but which one do you own the game on already. 
there is almost no difference in graphics at all.

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30 minutes ago, BloodyHell said:

Yes, but which one do you own the game on already. 
there is almost no difference in graphics at all.

 

XSX. I've been reading enabling VRR on the console improves things. Did they ever patch better loading times for the XSX version? 

 

I really don't like the washed out look the XSX has, too.

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@BloodyHell I was ABSOLUTELY correct that the PS5 version looks sooo much better and more vibrant than the XSX version. 

 

I bought the PS5 version 2 hours ago and was blown away at the difference. I played them back to back. The loading is much better, too.

 

I started over and will go through the entire game on the PS5. Just the 2 hours I played reminded me why this is hands down GOTY. 

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1 hour ago, best3444 said:

@BloodyHell I was ABSOLUTELY correct that the PS5 version looks sooo much better and more vibrant than the XSX version. 

 

I bought the PS5 version 2 hours ago and was blown away at the difference. I played them back to back. The loading is much better, too.

 

I started over and will go through the entire game on the PS5. Just the 2 hours I played reminded me why this is hands down GOTY. 

So why waste money for slightly better graphics?

 

and it is only slightly.

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1 hour ago, BloodyHell said:

So why waste money for slightly better graphics?

 

and it is only slightly.

 

It's not slightly. It's much more vibrant and colorful with fantastic loading times. The XSX looks depressing with how dull and washed out it is. It's a pretty big difference. 

 

I'm very pleased I bought the PS5 version and I just got done playing 5 hours straight. I forgot just how good this fucking game is. 

 

As for "wasting money" I don't feel like I did at all. I'm very pleased. 

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