Elden ring!

[MFB]

I have a feeling I missed this. Google puts that in an area I've already been to, so I must have just gone right by it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That whole area looked the same to me (I mean how different can you make jagged peaks with trees and dirt/brush on the ground look?) but it should be pretty easy to see if you go like, dead middle of the pond and just turn hard-right; there's also a small set of hills since you descend down into the pond, so you can just follow that to the right as well, and it should bring you there.

 

[pahulkster]

So.. I began about 3 weeks ago and now I am level 79. I killed Radahn after few attempts few hours ago; thinking it was going to be one of the most difficult bosses in the game (yes, I am a noob). Then I enter a dungeon nearby called War-Dead Catacombs, thinking "yaay I just killed a badass in 8 attempts this must be an easy loot dungeon as a reward!".. It reminded me of old school Game Boy games made to just piss people off so I died more times than I could count to finally get to the boss.

and then tf do I see? Putrid Tree Spirit, the worst fing design for a boss. It's literally as big as the room, wtaf???

I have Carian Regal Scepter +5 as main hand, Meteorite Staff for off hand and the creepy twin Burger King helmet along with almost all of the spells except for the beam one that melts bosses. I can't dodge or jump around to do anything as vigor / int build mage. It destroys the pillars, I might use meteorite spell next time; but should I skip this boss till I reach 120 - 130? Dungeon was already a nightmare, but I can see how people can farm runes for leveling up fast at the entrance!

oh crap it's 2:22 am yay!

That dungeon is a nightmare. Rot and super charged snipers. Like anything in Elden Ring if you are getting wrecked just revisit it later and you should be good. Beating Radahn opens up a whole new area to explore and will eventually lead you to the mimic so you can go back and wreck shop.

 

[wankerness]

That dungeon isn’t that bad, the thing with it is it’s tuned for a way, way higher level than Radahn and the game only tells you this via killing you and making the enemies feel like giant HP sponges if you go there straight after Radahn.

It’s considered part of dragonbarrow, that northeast part of caelid, where everything is probably about 40-60 levels higher than in the other 1/2 of the zone. Like, go try fighting that super runebear in the cave!

If you’re at the right level though it’s way way easier than many of the high level dungeons. Ex the hell one with dual crucible knight boss.

 

[TedEH]

I found my missing map piece. And the big ol' dragon hole that I missed when I was last there. I think I'm overpowered for that area now, the dragon-y boss guy was a piece of cake, and so was the first dragon when you leave the grace. Oh well.

 

[MFB]

I found my missing map piece. And the big ol' dragon hole that I missed when I was last there. I think I'm overpowered for that area now, the dragon-y boss guy was a piece of cake, and so was the first dragon when you leave the grace. Oh well.

I felt the same way, which isn't totally insane considering how early I found that river route and then opted to not follow it and went another way before clearing out all of Shadow Keep and the north portion of the map; had I gone south first, I would've been where it expected me to be, what with fighting the Ghostflame Dragon WITHOUT the katana etc.

 

[MFB]

Finished the coffin fissure last night, lot of nothing burger down there but sure, whatever; also killed my first armored visage, not hard at all considering it only takes 3 pots, but can be annoying just to time getting the first one in to stagger for the other two.

I guess at this point I might as well just wrap it up since there's only one area left, guess we'll see how it goes. If I get stomped I'll go back for any bosses I've missed, but I know I killed the majority already.

 

[wankerness]

Finished the coffin fissure last night, lot of nothing burger down there but sure, whatever; also killed my first armored visage, not hard at all considering it only takes 3 pots, but can be annoying just to time getting the first one in to stagger for the other two.

I guess at this point I might as well just wrap it up since there's only one area left, guess we'll see how it goes. If I get stomped I'll go back for any bosses I've missed, but I know I killed the majority already.

Are you talking about the furnace guys? The huge scarecrow fire things?

The majority of them can be killed by just chopping at their legs from torrent and double jumping every time they do the fire stomp (and running away and double jumping towards them whenever they do the two legged jump). Once you stagger them three times (one for each leg and a third one of either leg) they will fall down on the ground and you can stab them in that face plate for about 1/3 of their health.

I would avoid wasting pots on them unless it's one of the ones where you can't chop their legs, cause the resources for making pots are strictly limited and there are a couple that can ONLY be killed with pots (the only one I remember was one right next to a cliff in the cerulean area, but I think I remember reading there was at least one more that I must not have found).

The first one you see, north of the starting area, is the one that drops the ridiculous tear that gives you five minutes of Sekiro power. It's so amazingly fun that I wish they'd somehow made that a permanent ability, cause having it once per rest is not enough. It totally changes boss dynamics since you can block/parry with your weapon the same way as you would in sekiro.

 

[MFB]

I would avoid wasting pots on them unless it's one of the ones where you can't chop their legs, cause the resources for making pots are strictly limited and there are a couple that can ONLY be killed with pots (the only one I remember was one right next to a cliff in the cerulean area, but I think I remember reading there was at least one more that I must not have found).

That's specifically the one I'm talking about, the legs are armored so you can't physically attack them, the only way to do damage is to use the spirit spring and drop 3 hefty furnace pots into them which can be annoying since their tracking fireball attack lasts FOREVER. There's one more I've found on the way to Metyr Manse in the church district, but I need a couple more embers of Messmer that I don't feel like farming to kill them.

The regular Furnace Visages are zero trouble to me, I've killed like, 10 of those SOBs without any trouble - the biggest F.U. was from the one in the Ruah Ruins on the bridge before Romina's area, that dude pulled out a fire beam and just nuked my ass.

 

[wankerness]

That's specifically the one I'm talking about, the legs are armored so you can't physically attack them, the only way to do damage is to use the spirit spring and drop 3 hefty furnace pots into them which can be annoying since their tracking fireball attack lasts FOREVER. There's one more I've found on the way to Metyr Manse in the church district, but I need a couple more embers of Messmer that I don't feel like farming to kill them.

The regular Furnace Visages are zero trouble to me, I've killed like, 10 of those SOBs without any trouble - the biggest F.U. was from the one in the Ruah Ruins on the bridge before Romina's area, that dude pulled out a fire beam and just nuked my ass.

That might be the same area I got nuked, I remember I tried to run past one, was like a thousand yards away and on a bridge, and his death beam just perfectly aligned with the bridge so I couldn't dodge it and got annihilated.

 

[Moongrum]

I finally did it, I beat Malenia with a low effort build and no summons. I used Moore's greatshield and just poked with Mohg's spear. Required a lot of patience and luck to outdamage her lifesteal, but I finally did it

 

[MFB]

Man, the final boss of the DLC is fucking brutal, and I say this having just gotten thru a fight with three different invaders almost all at once with ease. I'm hitting for 1.5K and he gets thru my health in like, 3 hits?

Just like EVERY OTHER BOSS in this expansion, he opens with a massive dive bomb attack that takes 1/2 your health, and then you're on defensive until mimic forms; and even after that, his attacks are all wide sweeping, multi swing moves so you're eating thru stamina just as much as health.

 

[wankerness]

Man, the final boss of the DLC is fucking brutal, and I say this having just gotten thru a fight with three different invaders almost all at once with ease. I'm hitting for 1.5K and he gets thru my health in like, 3 hits?

Just like EVERY OTHER BOSS in this expansion, he opens with a massive dive bomb attack that takes 1/2 your health, and then you're on defensive until mimic forms; and even after that, his attacks are all wide sweeping, multi swing moves so you're eating thru stamina just as much as health.

Have you gotten to phase 2 yet? That’s where the real fun begins!! Make sure you get the item to counteract the hug if you keep getting hit by it (I did).

 

[MFB]

Have you gotten to phase 2 yet? That’s where the real fun begins!! Make sure you get the item to counteract the hug if you keep getting hit by it (I did).

Yessir, got him quite regularly, and had to look up which item it was that did it because I kept just seeing it in my inventory and never knowing when it was relevant; I also thought it might be a one-time use thing and was really worried.

Closest I got him to dead was the health was half way thru his name, not his title, but his NAME. I was furious when he got me, I think I had three charges left which was more than enough to deal with him.

Dodging the "phase 3" divebomb has been the real challenge, only had it happen ...3 times I think, once I died, 2nd I was so far back it didn't hit, and 3rd I tanked with physick.

 

[narad]

I was getting so utterly destroyed by Radahn that I took a break for a week. Came back, did some youtube walkthrough to get the missing blessings (I didn't know about the pot shadows, so I was missing a ton of easy ones). I think I'm at lev 19 with scadutree and 9 with the summons. Radahn still destroys me. I made it to phase 2 a couple of times but my mimic was dead like 5 seconds later. I may need another break. Every guide is saying a shield build is best. I haven't used a shield once since I booted up Elden Ring for the very first time.

 

[TedEH]

I'm basically running into the same wall, and a shield isn't saving me. I can make it to phase 2, but then I immediately get my ass handed to me, 'cause I can't figure out how you're supposed to avoid anything. I dunno if I'm shooting myself in the foot, but I avoided the summon before the door so that it doesn't boost his health pool. I must be a couple dozen attempts in. Maybe tomorrow.

 

[MFB]

I've found Ansbuch to be a requirement for it even if it does mean he has additional health, if it's just me or mimic drawing aggro, he does too much damage and we don't make it more than halfway. I've been entering the arena, dodging his attack and summoning mimic immediately after while Radahn shifts focus on him, and it's working out well.

I went back like narad did and found some additional Scadutree fragments, was only at 17 and got myself up to 19 no problem; I missed some REALLY obvious ones, but man, the one in Enir Ilim needing you to scale the side walls and jump through the window? How the FUCK does anyone think to find these things, my God! I might try to get the addition Sacred Ash I missed since I'm at level 8 and only one piece away from hitting 9, but also not super worried about it.

I'd like to beat this whole thing as pure STR, but this last fight is making it tough. I'm rolling with: double head turtle/dragon crest great shield/golden braid (holy negation)/crimson seed +1 for better flask restoration. I'm so god damn close, I think those fragments might be the edge I needed.

 

[wankerness]

Here’s what I had for Radahn. I think it took two tries with this setup. I very specifically upgraded some new stuff to max just to beat this cretin, you could probably do it without using the +25/+10 stones if you wanted, but I think the shield really needs to be this one to trivialize it. Fingerprint might work but you'd take way more chip damage. Anything else, you'd be getting stamina drained too fast.

Sword Lance +25 (weapon from Gaius) - blood, with sepukku on it (this weapon's bleed buildup when infused with blood is so high I wonder if it's not an error that will be patched. It's really good. Plus, you can poke from behind a shield with it)
Verdigris Greatshield +10 (this is better than the fingerprint shield cause it has higher holy resist and 90 guard boost - all Radahn's AOE besides the meteor dive is holy)
Night armor set - I think it was about the highest armor that I could still medium roll with these talismans, and it looked cool
Golden Braid (huge holy resist)
Two Headed Turtle Talisman (BIG stamina regen bonus, helps a ton with not running out during his onslaughts)
Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman (biggest physical damage reducer - you could probably drop this for something else, either the lord of blood's exultation or something to boost health/stamina/equip load, cause it only helps if you get hit while not blocking)
Pearl Shield Talisman (reduces non-physical damage when blocking - combined with this greatshield and the Golden Braid, makes it so you can just block all his big aoes besides the meteor dives).

I equipped Blessing of Marika so the mimic might use it (I don't know if it did), put ALL my flasks to healing, and had Miquella's Great Rune on in case I got hugged. I think I used it once on the last attempt, even though by then I finally was dodging that consistently.

I used Sepukku right before zoning in, then summoned ansbach, then summoned the mimic as soon as Radahn went after Ansbach, then just blocked/poked him the rest of the way. With Sepukku up I could usually get to phase 2 in like 30 seconds, since the mimic and ansbach both help with blood debuffs. I did NOT use sepukku again when it wore off.

You take plenty of chip damage and you have to be able to manage your stamina (ex let go of block every time he lays off for a second even if you don't attack), but it really trivialized it.

Oh, relevant stats were 60 vigor/40 endurance/49 str/34 dex/50 arcane. No points required in mind/int/faith. You need 49 str for this shield and at least 40 endurance to be able to medium roll with this setup, and the more you boost arcane the faster he'll bleed. I could have dumped more points into arcane or dex probably cause I still had 40 mind.

 

[TedEH]

How the FUCK does anyone think to find these things, my God!

I think I found that one naturally because an enemy fell down that way and I went chasing after them. IMO that's exactly the use-case for the multiplayer messaging.

 

[wankerness]

Yeah, these games are absolutely "balanced" around the multiplayer messaging. I like Miyazaki's original comment on his goal of the system back when Demon's Souls came out:

"The origin of that idea is actually due to a personal experience where a car suddenly stopped on a hillside after some heavy snow and started to slip," says Miyazaki. "The car following me also got stuck, and then the one behind it spontaneously bumped into it and started pushing it up the hill... That's it! That's how everyone can get home! Then it was my turn and everyone started pushing my car up the hill, and I managed to get home safely."

"But I couldn't stop the car to say thanks to the people who gave me a shove. I'd have just got stuck again if I'd stopped. On the way back home I wondered whether the last person in the line had made it home, and thought that I would probably never meet the people who had helped me. I thought that maybe if we'd met in another place we'd become friends, or maybe we'd just fight..."

"You could probably call it a connection of mutual assistance between transient people. Oddly, that incident will probably linger in my heart for a long time. Simply because it's fleeting, I think it stays with you a lot longer... like the cherry blossoms we Japanese love so much."

I just kind of like it since it's the only implementation I've ever seen where there's like, an in-game version of reading tips out of an old gamer mag or something. It's kind of cool and wouldn't work if the game had secrets like a "normal" game where it's highly telegraphed and obvious. Your resident evils with a little flashing light to indicate you should shoot the chandelier to get a gem or whatever, or your FPS games with secret walls that have a different texture than the walls on either side, etc.

 

[AltecGreen]

I was getting so utterly destroyed by Radahn that I took a break for a week. Came back, did some youtube walkthrough to get the missing blessings (I didn't know about the pot shadows, so I was missing a ton of easy ones). I think I'm at lev 19 with scadutree and 9 with the summons. Radahn still destroys me. I made it to phase 2 a couple of times but my mimic was dead like 5 seconds later. I may need another break. Every guide is saying a shield build is best. I haven't used a shield once since I booted up Elden Ring for the very first time.

If you are just trying to finish Radahn and do not care how you do it, then use Impenetrable Thorns. Use it before the next patch nerfs it.

If you are using a shield, are you casting Scholar's shield? That helps if you are comfortable casting.