Elden Ring players, what are you up to and what've you got cooking?

I'm on my first playthrough and am currently doing a high vigor, dex, endurance build wielding a guardian swordspear and a black bow. I like the GS moveset and whenever I try something else, the damage kinda suffers. Still, I'd like to try out a Nagakiba build as well as I can do it without respeccing, but I need a few more smithing stones to bring it up to max level.

For armor, I'm rocking the bull goat. It's ugly as hell, but I'm not that gracious around my enemies and it's nice to be able to tank some hits. It is a little sad how terribly uncool my character looks towards the end of the game compared to the beginning. The game is hard, though, so I need the help.

Currently I'm at Brace of the Halligtree, but I've not done Crumbling Farum Azula yet and am thinking of going back and doing that first. I can progress fine mostly, but I admittedly do die regularly. If not from getting killed, then from falling off something.

Having great damage and the fully upgraded mimic tear, I ironically find the boss fights relatively easy and it's mostly just fighting regular enemies and surviving long enough to find the next grace that I find the most challenging.

Happiness is a warm manatee

Haven't played in over half a year, but I'm only on my first playthrough and have beat just one of the main bosses (Godric duh). I'll probably pick it up again later this year when I have less on my plate, but I have so many games in general I need to finish (Bloodborne being another)


What sort of build / weapons are you going for?

With big titles, I often feel like I have to get done with one before I can move on to the next. So after Elden Ring, I got lots of FPS games in the pipe, like Doom Eternal, High on Life, FarCry 6 and Resident Evil Village. I don't get that much playtime, so this'll take me a while.

Happiness is a warm manatee

I picked the samurai one, so I guess mostly Dex, though I had some problems prioritising between Strength and Dex early on iirc

Don't remember the names of the weapons I used anymore. Some I could dual wield, but I also had some success with a 2-handed hook-shaped spear thing at some point.

agreed on backlogs for games. I kinda feel like I have to go back to the ones that have been sitting on my shelf the longest and finish those, or else it will never happen. TLOU2 is one of the most egregious examples atm so I might try and finish that before I return to slightly newer games like ER




Hey, another dex build! You might wanna check out the guardian swordspear or the nagakiba katana (combined with the unsheathe ashes of war) then :)

I haven't played any of the last of us games. Looking forward to the upcoming TV show, though.

Happiness is a warm manatee

Ah yes, I figure there's quite a few weapons that would help my playthrough a lot if I knew where to look for them (especially considering I'm not that good at fromsoft games) but I've tried to mostly avoid looking up stuff for my first playthrough.

Unsheathe AoW improves Dex scaling does it? Haven't played around with assigning those a lot so far

And btw love the phone optimisation here. Beats squinting at my screen trying to read MB  :laughing:


Quote from: GD on Jan 13, 2023, 12:14 AMAh yes, I figure there's quite a few weapons that would help my playthrough a lot if I knew where to look for them (especially considering I'm not that good at fromsoft games) but I've tried to mostly avoid looking up stuff for my first playthrough.

Unsheathe AoW improves Dex scaling does it? Haven't played around with assigning those a lot so far

And btw love the phone optimisation here. Beats squinting at my screen trying to read MB  :laughing:

They have this system of whetstones that you can use to improve your weapons, so the first one makes it so you can apply ashes of war and the second makes it so you can also give your weapon an affinity. The keen affinity then improves dex scaling.

As you upgrade your weapon, scaling improves again, so unless I'm mistaken, a C dex weapon should end up at A with keen affinity and quite a lot of upgrades.

The guardian swordspear seems to be the best dex weapon that I've come across in terms of damage, but the nagakiba moveset and unsheathe is really cool plus it has bleed which is supposedly very powerful.

But I've also put all my upgrade resources into GS (now fully upgraded), so I don't have entirely fair comparisons yet. My Nagakiba is at +22 I believe (out of a possible +25).

Nice that you like the optimization :) I find it sorely lacking from MB.

Happiness is a warm manatee

Finished the game today and have killed all the bosses I know of. Those last boss fights were quite challenging. I ended up using fully upgraded star fists with lightning infusion and the bloodhound step AoW. It's got good DPS and the BS is great for avoiding boss attacks as well as getting to melee range.

I haven't started New Game+ just yet.

Happiness is a warm manatee

I'm only two or three hours in. I've switched to something easier for a bit after I kept dying but I will get back to it I'm sure.

I went with the Samurai.


Quote from: robhr on Jan 28, 2023, 09:57 PMI'm only two or three hours in. I've switched to something easier for a bit after I kept dying but I will get back to it I'm sure.

I went with the Samurai.

Probably a good choice :) at least I prefer the quicker weapons to the sluggish big ones.

Happiness is a warm manatee

Quote from: Guybrush on Jan 30, 2023, 12:12 AM
Quote from: robhr on Jan 28, 2023, 09:57 PMI'm only two or three hours in. I've switched to something easier for a bit after I kept dying but I will get back to it I'm sure.

I went with the Samurai.

Probably a good choice :) at least I prefer the quicker weapons to the sluggish big ones.

Yeah I always go for the quick weapons.

By the way I think I accidentally reported you to a moderator when I was trying to quote you sorry.


Quote from: robhr on Jan 30, 2023, 01:17 AM
Quote from: Guybrush on Jan 30, 2023, 12:12 AM
Quote from: robhr on Jan 28, 2023, 09:57 PMI'm only two or three hours in. I've switched to something easier for a bit after I kept dying but I will get back to it I'm sure.

I went with the Samurai.

Probably a good choice :) at least I prefer the quicker weapons to the sluggish big ones.

Yeah I always go for the quick weapons.

By the way I think I accidentally reported you to a moderator when I was trying to quote you sorry.

No worries :)

Thanks for the heads-up!

Happiness is a warm manatee

I don't really play video games myself anymore, but I love watching my partner play Souls games. He crushed through Bloodborne about two years ago and I absolutely loved the atmosphere and aesthetic of the game, preferably in the dark on a big TV.

"stressed" is just "desserts" spelled backwards

Quote from: Mrs. Waffles on Jan 30, 2023, 03:25 PMI don't really play video games myself anymore, but I love watching my partner play Souls games. He crushed through Bloodborne about two years ago and I absolutely loved the atmosphere and aesthetic of the game, preferably in the dark on a big TV.

The perfect partner :love:

My wife's interest in Elden Ring or that world is unfortunately zilch. She has other good qualities, though. ;D

I haven't played the previous Soulsborn games, but I take it they're similar in style to Elden Ring which is absolutely fantastic. Just playing the game and travelling that world feels very inspiring in terms of getting my own creativity going. I love it.

Happiness is a warm manatee

I bought this game and it's still in the plastic unopened. I'm a bit afraid to get into it. I don't think I'm going to end up liking it to be honest. I have a stupid library of back catalog titles to get through. So one day I will open it and give it a whirl.

I was this cool the whole time.