The "What are you playing now?" Thread

[Kouki]

So I've put like 50+ hours into Elden Ring, mostly completely ignoring other aspects of my life.

I think I can confidently say this is my GOAT game.

Maybe only 20% of my time has been spent on the main quest. Mostly just exploring. I barely have any complaints.

1. I pretty much always do strength melee builds in Souls games, but weapon and armor is hard to come by in this game. I have a crap ton of spells and dex weapons I can't use but only like two strength weapons to choose from. However I'm playing mostly blind, in other Souls games it's easier to know where stuff is, and I'd look stuff up. Trying to avoid looking stuff up as much as possible.

2. I do wish there was a sort of quest log. It was kind of an internet controversy because Souls is known for NOT having quest logs (and having very cryptic questlines), but most open-world games kind of NEED quest logs - some are just over-the-top hand-holdy. I wish they could have struck a balance. I bet 150 hours is reasonable for a playthrough if you explore a decent amount. I've come across a lot of weird stuff and ten hours later I realize "Oh wow now that is relevant but I don't remember where or why". Just having an audio log of your convos would be a nice quality of life improvement.

3. There definitely is missable content, in a game this big I'm constantly afraid I'm missing like 50% of the game (and I'm also worried that because I explored almost the entire map, I'm screwing things up - I already know I screwed one thing up for myself, lol)

My best memory so far is on my second day of playing I encountered a trap and got teleported to a far off place in the map. "This has gotta be the end-game area, it's so far away from the start and all the enemies are impossible". Then on my third or fourth day I got teleported to an area twice as far away as the previous place.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Wanted to share a couple things that have helped me early on. These videos don't have spoilers per se, but do reveal some item/map locations (which, is the entire point of the videos, lol). If you're someone who wishes to discover anything and everything on your own, then you may not want to watch.

Anyway, if you're a Mage/Astrologer, or use a Staff at all, you can get an S tier staff from the very beginning of the game (easier if you get the Mount first). This Staff cannot be upgraded, but even still, it's incredible in early-game and likely at least viable in mid-game.

As a side note, near where you get the Meteorite Staff, there's a location called the Street of Sages Ruins. There's a stairwell that leads down into a room that contains a chest where you can find the Rock Sling spell, which is fairly powerful. The ruins have quite a few enemies, but they're slow as fuck so you can just run right by them.

2. I do wish there was a sort of quest log. It was kind of an internet controversy because Souls is known for NOT having quest logs (and having very cryptic questlines), but most open-world games kind of NEED quest logs - some are just over-the-top hand-holdy. I wish they could have struck a balance. I bet 150 hours is reasonable for a playthrough if you explore a decent amount. I've come across a lot of weird stuff and ten hours later I realize "Oh wow now that is relevant but I don't remember where or why". Just having an audio log of your convos would be a nice quality of life improvement.

Feels like a huge oversight to not have a quest log considering how big and non-linear this game is. A quest log doesn't necessarily have to hold your hand, though. Look at Breath of the Wild. That game has a very simple quest log that pretty much just tells you you've got an active side quest and not much else.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Beat Margit the Fell Omen on my first try. I went in at level 32 armed with the Meteorite Staff and Rock Sling, and summoned Rogier to help along with the Jellyfish Ashes.

Still a very tough fight, and he almost got me about three different times, but I just stayed back as much as possible, ran like a little bitch whenever his aggro switched to me until he started pummeling Rogier again, and threw rocks at him until he was deadsville.

Now I just need to see about getting my dude some better armor.

 

[Ohio]

Beat Margit the Fell Omen on my first try. I went in at level 32 armed with the Meteorite Staff and Rock Sling, and summoned Rogier to help along with the Jellyfish Ashes.

Still a very tough fight, and he almost got me about three different times, but I just stayed back as much as possible, ran like a little bitch whenever his aggro switched to me until he started pummeling Rogier again, and threw rocks at him until he was deadsville.

Now I just need to see about getting my dude some better armor.

Is Rock Sling better than Glintstone Pebble?

I unknowingly went into the Margit fight early on and actually managed to come close to defeating her, I'd probably take her down rather easily now.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Is Rock Sling better than Glintstone Pebble?

It definitely seems to do more damage than the pebble. It costs about twice as much mana, though, so I have no idea if the overall DPS number is actually superior, but you get three projectiles with the sling as opposed to just one for the pebble and it took a pretty decent chunk out of Margit's health each time I hit him.

It's not terribly practical in close quarters, though, because the rocks will hit walls and break.

Worked really well in a wide open arena like the Margit fight, though.

 

[Jack Brickman]

@Ohio a quick google search tells me that the damage done by Rock Sling is increased when using the Meteorite Staff, so that probably factors in to how effective it has been since I got both at the same time.

 

[Ohio]

@Ohio a quick google search tells me that the damage done by Rock Sling is increased when using the Meteorite Staff, so that probably factors in to how effective it has been since I got both at the same time.

Yeah I saw that too.

Though, from what I've been able to tell so far, the difference in damage is little to none. Making Pebble the better option since it uses much less FP.

Will continue testing both out for a bit longer

 

[Chris]

Between the new job, new house, and baby dropping any day, fuck, I have so little time to play. Yet it’s all I want to do.

Hopefully can really sink in this weekend. Not just Elden Ring but Horizon and the new Destiny xpac.

 

[Ohio]

Beat Godrick, the first main boss, on my first try. Absolutely smoked him. Be sure to talk to NPCs, you can summon one for that battle. It helped quite a bit.

Got his rune activated now, boosts all the attributes.

I'm in love with this game.

 

[Kouki]

Beat Margit the Fell Omen on my first try.

Lol just messing of course. I think Margit took me ~10 tries with melee. I'm not great at Souls games (there are a few bosses in the franchise I have never beaten) but melee does seem like the hard path in this game. I'm beating bosses OK but typically pretty over-leveled.

Both Margit and the next main story boss I felt so dirty, I had to cheese them with a poison summon, and each fight I spent the last two minutes shorts on health, running around waiting for the poison to kill them, lol

I gave in and looked up where to get some new strength weapons but I still prefer my Zwei. Also looked up armor. Both weapons and armor are honestly a little underwhelming, one of the most important aspects of these games is being fashionable, I am afraid I cannot do that and it's bumming me out.

 

[Jack Brickman]

View attachment 8828

Lol just messing of course. I think Margit took me ~10 tries with melee. I'm not great at Souls games (there are a few bosses in the franchise I have never beaten) but melee does seem like the hard path in this game. I'm beating bosses OK but typically pretty over-leveled.

Both Margit and the next main story boss I felt so dirty, I had to cheese them with a poison summon, and each fight I spent the last two minutes shorts on health, running around waiting for the poison to kill them, lol

I gave in and looked up where to get some new strength weapons but I still prefer my Zwei. Also looked up armor. Both weapons and armor are honestly a little underwhelming, one of the most important aspects of these games is being fashionable, I am afraid I cannot do that and it's bumming me out.

I mean, I only beat him on the first try because I knew what I was getting into going in, was over-leveled and prepared, had a +3 jellyfish, and that Rogier NPC. And even then I barely made it out of there alive.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Just had a random boss encounter with the Night's Cavalry, which ambushed me shortly after activating a Site of Grace somewhere in the Weeping Peninsula. Scared the shit out of me. I was quick to call my horse, though, and got some distance before he could hit me more than once.

The fight took a while and was pretty intense, but not super difficult. It was mostly about being patient, dodging his attacks, and taking his health down a hit or two at a time. He has a couple of attacks that cover a ton of ground, but the dodge window seemed reasonably large, at least if you were hanging back like I was. Being a mage and all.

He gives some decent loot. A talisman that raises your max health a bit and a cool-looking flail that my character isn't strong enough to use.

Onward to Castle Morne.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Spent the past hour tackling Castle Morne. Overall, it wasn't too bad. I didn't bother fighting the Pumpkinhead guy yet, but otherwise I think I more or less saw everything.

There were a few tricky areas, including one where you drop into a fucking viper's nest of rats, although thankfully there are a few beams you can drop onto to pick a few of them off from above before taking on the ones that aren't in sight.

It took me about five tries to kill the boss, Leonine Misbegotten. He's so fucking fast and his attacks can cover a lot of distance in no time at all. I finally got lucky on the last try and was able to funnel him through a gap in scenery and just pummel him with Rock Sling. He'd get staggered, which would give me time to cast it again, and my wolves blocked him from charging me.

Onward to Stormveil. Gonna get myself that first piece of the Elden Ring.

 

[Ohio]

Spent the past hour tackling Castle Morne. Overall, it wasn't too bad. I didn't bother fighting the Pumpkinhead guy yet, but otherwise I think I more or less saw everything.

There were a few tricky areas, including one where you drop into a fucking viper's nest of rats, although thankfully there are a few beams you can drop onto to pick a few of them off from above before taking on the ones that aren't in sight.

It took me about five tries to kill the boss, Leonine Misbegotten. He's so fucking fast and his attacks can cover a lot of distance in no time at all. I finally got lucky on the last try and was able to funnel him through a gap in scenery and just pummel him with Rock Sling. He'd get staggered, which would give me time to cast it again, and my wolves blocked him from charging me.

Onward to Stormveil. Gonna get myself that first piece of the Elden Ring.

I was able to beat Leonine on my 2nd try. Would have beat him on the first but screwed up.

Summoning ashes (Wolf and Jellyfish are my favorites) are absolutely crucial to beating bosses in this game, based on my experience so far.

On that note, I managed to beat the 2nd main boss today, Renalla...her battle is like a puzzle. Once I figured out what to do and when to do it, it was easy. Tips in spoiler below.

Spoiler

First stage she's in the air in a bubble with her minions down below. One of the minions will also be in a bubble. Hit that minion and the bubble will move to another. Hit that one as well and the bubble will move to a third minion. Wait too long to burst the minion bubbles and Rennala will eventually launch a super powerful attack at you. You will want to be sprinting around and meleeing the bubbled minion(s) for ease and time savings. The minions are mostly harmless, but everyone once in awhile they'll spit flames at you so watch out for that. Once you hit the 3rd bubbled minion, Rennala's bubble will crack, she'll hit the floor and you'll have 5-10 seconds to attack her. Rinse and repeat. I learned all this during my first battle with her, after that this first stage became a cakewalk.

Second stage is really tricky. First, start sprinting and rolling right away. She will immediately attack with this intense magical beam that follows you. As soon as that move is over, summon your ashes, the Wolves are the way to go for this one. If you manage to avoid her initial attack and summon your Wolves, you're in really good shape. Just dodge her magic attacks and cast your magic attacks in-between. The Wolves do a really good job of distracting her and, for me, easily survived the battle.

The biggest key, and this took me a few tries to realize, is to save your Wolves/ashes summon for the second stage. Do NOT use them in the first stage, it's a complete waste and they will almost certainly die before the second stage without really having helped you at all.

 

[Marcus]

Largely took a break from Elden Ring this week, as I was out of town, but still managed to clear the Academy of Raya Lucaria.

I'm running a spell sword (started with the prisoner class), so mainly focusing on leveling Int/Vigor, while secondarily leveling Mind/Dex. It was a little tough to start with, but it's been a blast. Normally I run as a mage, but wanted to try something a little different.