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Multi Wake Up, Tarnished

Rachel

No Problem Here
GW Elder
Messages
529
Got the DLC late last night. Anyone playing the Elden Ring DLC? We could form a GW group with a password if anyone is interested.

Played about an hour last night and had a blast. Trying to decide if I want to use a new picked up weapon or what.
 

Rachel

No Problem Here
GW Elder
Messages
529
I made it to the first boss that I think most people will encounter before the others.

Without spoiling anything, I beat it first try with a mimic tear and npc summon. But, visually the boss seemed to...teleport around at certain attacks. It has me concerned. I wonder what it is like to be a boss designer here. How do you push the difficulty even more? There still needs to be openings so a player can actually attack. If what I am reading is true, basically every boss in the DLC comes with an NPC summon. And that worries me, it's like they made it too insane even for a souls game, and they knew it so they added the signs.

Side note, this boss has a really dumb design imo? It's like they ran out of ideas

I also put my summon sign down. Woof! I was not able to help a single person beat the boss. Everyone is underleveled I think. Usually I can help at least a few people. Co-op won't make up for being underleveled! It's been awhile since I've been insta summoned each time I put the sign down.

I wasn't expecting nobody to post in here
 

Rachel

No Problem Here
GW Elder
Messages
529
Boy, I am hearing some very unfortunate things about the final boss of the DLC. Unfortunately I got spoiled about what it is with Youtube thumbnails. I have no idea what that is about from a lore perspective. Seems really weird. But from a gameplay perspective it sounds like it suffers from a lot of things in its phase two. Really bad camera, too many things happening on the screen at once to understand what to do, reliance on RNG to succeed...very unfortunate. I wouldn't be surprised if this is patched. I don't mind hard at all but it has to be FAIR. That's what I have loved about ALL the souls games. Hard but fair. You need to have mechanics that are beatable by a human, such as telegraphed moves and attacks that can be discerned from the chaos within the timeframe it takes for the human brain to process. I'm reading that the final boss somewhat ruined the DLC for people--long time souls players that don't need "git gud"--and they would stop at that boss if they were to replay the DLC. That really sucks to hear.
 

Rachel

No Problem Here
GW Elder
Messages
529
uh I am very far off, I have two young kids, usually I can only spend two hours a day playing at most

If I am lucky I will take a few weeks more to completely clear the whole map

I just beat the main boss of the castle/fort/whatever when you reach the first crossroads and go west.

I also spent some more time trying to understand the lore behind the last boss. It makes a little more sense to me now, and lines up with GRRM's writing. Certain things were hinted at.
 
oh nothing, just me imagining being summoned by Miyazaki

View attachment 17437
I'm certainly not benefitting, it's still too hard for me to get hooked :chuckle But I also know that not every video game is tailored to me. I gave this game about six good ol' college tries and still gave up, and I'm totally ok with this. Knowing this is the most accessible Fromsoft game, I can only imagine how frustrating games like DS1 could be. I still enjoyed watching all the epic boss fights on YouTube.
 

Rachel

No Problem Here
GW Elder
Messages
529
well, I've played some more of the DLC. Here is my summary so far:

I've discovered the lightning perfume bottle build. Currently using it. I will say it's a great build for bosses but terrible for exploring (glass cannon). I truly believe they need to offer more Larval Tears in this game. They throw SO many weapons at you but the ability to respec is rare.

The bosses are bothering me. They don't give you time to summon an ash. This never happened in the base game so I'm not sure what happened here. They attack you right away, often also hitting the co-op entering the arena.

I'm glad they learned about how to place NPCs compared to the base game because they mostly seem to stick near sites of grace, with their icon on the map.

They put in a new feature for a new tab in the inventory. It auto shows things you just acquired. It's crazy we only got that now.

Something about the DLC is bothering me. It's very possible this was originally going to be two different DLCs, but they combined the two Miquella and Messmer concepts. The hand in the egg also bothers me, the way to enter the DLC. There's not even a cutscene that shows you being transported. I am thinking the hand in the egg was originally a different concept that got minimized for the DLC.

The areas around the DLC sometimes bothers me too. Often the reward for exploring is a smithing stone, which is almost worthless at this point. There are certain points that are somewhat empty, like they planned for more than what ended up being there.

Oh yeah, and the Scadutree fragment concept is a little perplexing. The seeds in the base game had an obvious visual, the golden baby trees. Also, there were more seeds than what you need in the base game. But here, there are only EXACTLY the number of Scadutree fragments you need to reach max level. And oftentimes there's not a visual like there was for the seeds. And I don't think there's a map for them or a way to keep track of which ones you have already found. So, no idea why they did this instead of doing what already worked.

But overall I am having fun. It's rare to be summoned and to have actually helped the host live through the boss. The DLC is super massive. Seriously considering running NG+ with this new build.

I now understand that Miquella is basically Griffith. Once you see him in that lens everything makes a LOT more sense.
 

Rachel

No Problem Here
GW Elder
Messages
529
Happy fucking 4th of July

They just patched my build. I haven't logged in yet but I think it is almost useless now. So that fucking sucks. Don't have much motivation now. These bosses are so hard that many people are following guides to make the builds that can stand up to them. Then they patch it. Notice that they don't patch anything about the bosses!

I also maintain that everyone should be given a Larval Tear with an update like this. You can't just respec in this game! Ahhhhhhhh!!!!
 

Rachel

No Problem Here
GW Elder
Messages
529
just wanted to post an update

I reached the final boss of the DLC last night. I came well prepared because I have heard so much about him. I didn't intend to beat him, only give a few tries to see what I could do.

I didn't have the golden braid on, didn't go to that area yet. But that aside I got the boss down to about half health. I truly believe this boss is unreasonably hard. None of the side bosses in the main game are like this, Malenia is a cake walk compared. And to top it off, it's not an optional boss of the DLC, it's the main final boss to beat the DLC. It would be one thing if this was a side tough boss, but it's not. It's frustrating to respec just for one guy. Currently mulling over a golem run. But then I would have to put a lot of points into Mind.

This is not a matter of git gud because a lot of veterans are hitting the same wall. I've also heard the reward is not really worth it and the ending is a couple of sentences. So to be honest I'm not even sure I'll be doing this. I never thought I would say that. I still have a few bosses left I can beat that I haven't done yet. I'd like to wrap this up before the new Dragon Age game comes out.

I don't like where this is headed. They have to do over the top stuff now. And Elden Ring is my favorite game.

Oh yeah, that reminds me: as I was playing, I kept thinking I would love to see this environmental art style in a more upbeat game. They are crushing the environments. Imagine combining that with a Witcher game or another Action RPG or something.
 

Rachel

No Problem Here
GW Elder
Messages
529
this will probably be my last post of the thread.

I beat the final boss a few days ago. I did have to respec my character to deal with him. Which is a shame because the respec item is so limited.

What surprised me is that I only chugged twice during the fight. So, the fight CAN be not so bad...but it really depends on your build.

Then, I tried to help people as a summon. I so rarely was able to help people cross the finish line. I was getting mad at the "fashion souls" people...I could tell who was going to beat the boss based on their armor.

I'm doing a few odds and ends. Overall, even though this DLC took forever, it also felt rushed. The DLC ending was almost no ending. I was expecting actual credits to roll but that didn't happen.

I was hoping they would explain something about the Scadutree. I was hoping they would explain something more about Melina. Or what was the "seduction of gold" or the veil or whatever. Or what was up with the withered arm that brings you into the DLC area. We've always had cryptic plots, but I wish we didn't need Vaati.

I also hate how passive Merika is. She's the center of everything, and in the end, she has no lines, and she crumbles away. This was clearly supposed to be two DLCs, and Messmer got shafted.

That said, I had fun. The environments are amazing. Good amount of suspense in some areas. I do wish the map wasn't so confusing, there are so many layers and heights to it. They have denied that they are making any more DLC, but I do wonder if they have anything else up their sleeve before moving on.

I doubt anyone will do this but I can help anyone as a summon as needed.
 
Messages
223
i have very mixed feelings about the DLC. i loved the base game. LOVED IT. but shadow of the erdtree just feels kind of unfair to me? i didnt enjoy the boss fights and i ended up putting it down before even getting to the end. for example the bosses in the base game while they can be annoying are still fair overall. you have pretty clear windows in the attack patterns.

but the DLC??? honestly it just feels like the bosses spam attacks for a long period of time that you have to dodge perfectly. you get in a couple attacks and rinse or repeat. the majority of the fight is spent dodging and for me thats just not fun.
 
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