|OT| Elden Ring - Foul Tarnished, in search of the Elden Ring

Dec 5, 2018
1,544
3,873
113
Don't know about Margit, but acording to the wiki Godrick is an optional boss.


no idea if the speedrunners use a teleport but you can just ride around the castle
When I couldn't beat Margit I kept exploring and I ended up in the area/building you go after beating Godrick but the door was closed.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LEANIJA

yuraya

MetaMember
May 4, 2019
2,402
5,610
113
Don't you have to beat Margit and Godrick? Or are their teleports to bypass Stormveil?
You can ride around the entire stormveil area to the north. There is a broken bridge with the finger reader and you can see to the side a cliffy area full of wolves. You can just ride all the way around and skip the entire area to go north to the rest of the game. Ofc you can come later and beat the bosses.

In the case of an SL1 run tho you need to beat Margit for the first talisman pouch and then the next 2 bosses as well to get the 2nd pouch.

But in a regular playthrough...yea you can skip so much and just explore/overlevel etc and come back if you want. There are some other bosses that beating them open up many secret areas and progress storylines + quests...so it becomes a mess but its a beautiful mess and makes the open world a true open world. There is so much more freedom in this game then it lets on. And yea so much of this is easy to miss on your first playthrough :)
 

Le Pertti

0.01% Game dev
Oct 10, 2018
8,278
21,201
113
45
Paris, France
lepertti.com
Man, something that just makes me smash my controller, is a boss that is relentless but seems possible to beat because I get very close over and over again, BUT sometimes you have tries that are completely failures, like since he is so relentless you don't even manage to use any of your bottles.

Need to go farm levels a few hundred more and come back.XD
 
  • Like
Reactions: d00d3n

yuraya

MetaMember
May 4, 2019
2,402
5,610
113
Its funny for me the way I found out about being able to skip stormveil was finding that path going backwards once I went through stormveil lol.

I remember scratching my head thinking this can't be right. But the more you think about the more sense everything makes. The more I learn about everything after beating the more amazing it all is. The design for this game is masterful.

You can essentially skip the first 50% of this game and you don't ever need to come back at all unless you need boss weapons and talisman slots.

In fact you can even skip more than you think you can skip but it would require really unique paths. Its doable tho and its not hardcoded exploits like DS2 rotten grind.

Its great this design exists because players struggle in stormveil and caelid...so you can skip farther into the rest of the game and experience so much of the other optional content while gathering stronger materials/weapons/equipment etc. The unfortunate thing about it is almost impossible to learn all this without going and reading guides/tips. Everything has to be so cryptic with Miyazaki :face-with-stuck-out-tongue-and-tightly-closed-eyes:
 
  • Like
Reactions: d00d3n and LEANIJA

Le Pertti

0.01% Game dev
Oct 10, 2018
8,278
21,201
113
45
Paris, France
lepertti.com
The unfortunate thing about it is almost impossible to learn all this without going and reading guides/tips. Everything has to be so cryptic with Miyazaki :face-with-stuck-out-tongue-and-tightly-closed-eyes:
Or exploring every nook and granny, Thats how I found you can pass the castle. I feel like Ive been to a lot of places before I should be there. Also the messages help, some bosses I've found like that, and some I've found by pure accident.
 
  • Like
Reactions: d00d3n and LEANIJA

LEANIJA

MetaMember
May 5, 2019
2,949
7,386
113
Austria
I rode around the castle initially. Wasn't even aware that i bypassed it either, i was just exploring everything. I think you could probably get to most areas without a problem, is anything hardlocked by quests? Maybe the mountaintops, which is where i arrived yesterday, and boy do i need to level for those ;)
Any advice on a good rune farming spot at level 97?
~

lol?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Stevey and d00d3n
OP
Durante

Durante

I <3 Pixels
Oct 21, 2018
3,835
18,379
113
Yeah, I also (accidentally) went around Stormveil before going in, without ever reading up anything and without any particularly meticulous exploration effort even.

Any advice on a good rune farming spot at level 97?
It probably depends on your build, but I used to do the following: from Dragonbarrow Fork, go up towards the Minor Erdtree. There are ~10 demihumans on the way, each is 1.3k runes, and I could oneshot them.
 

LEANIJA

MetaMember
May 5, 2019
2,949
7,386
113
Austria
Yeah, I also (accidentally) went around Stormveil before going in, without ever reading up anything and without any particularly meticulous exploration effort even.

It probably depends on your build, but I used to do the following: from Dragonbarrow Fork, go up towards the Minor Erdtree. There are ~10 demihumans on the way, each is 1.3k runes, and I could oneshot them.

my build is all over the place ;)



I did go to the spot you mentioned, it is quite good.
Around there are 2 other spots Ive used before. One other with demihumans (those that roam before the Black Blade Kindred) and the nearby tower, where a ball rolls into the abyss and nets you 2k runes for basically nothing ;)
And then theres the big dragon that doesnt fight back, but thats a one-time thing (unless you time it super correctly?)

However–I ve always eyed the "bird rune farm" (detailed in this youtube video) and I finally made my way there today, but that is a LOT of work to get there. its super effective to farm runes once you have access to it, though. but chances are you'll already be very high level...but then again, it feels like you cant be high enough level in this game. i had a couple of hours where it felt like i couldnt progress anywhere, i just kept dying to everything. ah well. i went back to exploring, farmed some levels, made my weapons better, finished a questline, continued another... at least you have all these options if youre stuck on a boss (or, several ;) )
 

Joe Spangle

Playing....
Apr 17, 2019
2,417
8,223
113
Yeah im a bit lost as to where to go and what to do. I have a few options but each feels just a bit tough so i tend to just warp about not really progressing. Think i need to level up a bit to tackle the next bits.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LEANIJA and d00d3n

kio

MetaMember
Apr 19, 2019
1,447
4,656
113
my build is all over the place ;)



I did go to the spot you mentioned, it is quite good.
Around there are 2 other spots Ive used before. One other with demihumans (those that roam before the Black Blade Kindred) and the nearby tower, where a ball rolls into the abyss and nets you 2k runes for basically nothing ;)
And then theres the big dragon that doesnt fight back, but thats a one-time thing (unless you time it super correctly?)

However–I ve always eyed the "bird rune farm" (detailed in this youtube video) and I finally made my way there today, but that is a LOT of work to get there. its super effective to farm runes once you have access to it, though. but chances are you'll already be very high level...but then again, it feels like you cant be high enough level in this game. i had a couple of hours where it felt like i couldnt progress anywhere, i just kept dying to everything. ah well. i went back to exploring, farmed some levels, made my weapons better, finished a questline, continued another... at least you have all these options if youre stuck on a boss (or, several ;) )
Wouldn't it be better to have fewer weapons equipped and use the freed weight in better armor? I also think your vigor and dex are a bit too high for what you're trying to do (I'm assuming spellcasting).
 
  • Like
Reactions: d00d3n

d00d3n

MetaMember
Jan 26, 2019
306
555
93
Any advice on a good rune farming spot at level 97?
There is a semi-secret area tied to invasions that has the best farming spot for mid, late and end game farming. Look for the slope with a lot of passive Albinauric enemies close to a site of grace. You can access the area through a portal in one of the last open world areas of the game, or by doing a quest that is accessible from the beginning, but which has several convoluted steps.
 

LEANIJA

MetaMember
May 5, 2019
2,949
7,386
113
Austria
Wouldn't it be better to have fewer weapons equipped and use the freed weight in better armor? I also think your vigor and dex are a bit too high for what you're trying to do (I'm assuming spellcasting).
Im doing a mix of Hoarfrost stomping, Katana-ing and spellcasting, hence the mishmash... i dont usually have lots of weapons equipped though, generally just Katana+staff – and honestly havent found that much great armor, weirdly enough
but yeah...youre probably right but my target right now is to just level like crazy to skill up the other stuff i want higher ;)


There is a semi-secret area tied to invasions that has the best farming spot for mid, late and end game farming. Look for the slope with a lot of passive Albinauric enemies close to a site of grace. You can access the area through a portal in one of the last open world areas of the game, or by doing a quest that is accessible from the beginning, but which has several convoluted steps.
I think that is precisely where i am right now / what I mean with "bird farming" spot that I posted about: shoot the bird, it tries to run and you and falls over the edge because theres a huge chasm in the way and the AI is dumb, it nets you lots of runes, rinse & repeat :D
 
  • Like
Reactions: d00d3n

d00d3n

MetaMember
Jan 26, 2019
306
555
93
I think that is precisely where i am right now / what I mean with "bird farming" spot that I posted about: shoot the bird, it tries to run and you and falls over the edge because theres a huge chasm in the way and the AI is dumb, it nets you lots of runes, rinse & repeat :D
I found it difficult to do that strategy in a reproducible way, so I just killed the nearby enemies on the sloping hill as fast as I could. The strategy that you mention is probably good if you can't deliver solid DPS, though, while the enemies I talk about will be problematic if you can't kill them fast.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LEANIJA

Panda Pedinte

Best Sig Maker on the board!
Sep 20, 2018
4,623
13,012
113
Something weird happens sometimes, that I can run around but when I try to hit, block or heal the controller doesn't respond. It has happened twice and not sure why?
Did you notice if there was a message in the screen like "Somewhere a door opened"? When a message like this pop on the screen they block your actions until you press Y/△
 
  • Like
Reactions: LEANIJA

LEANIJA

MetaMember
May 5, 2019
2,949
7,386
113
Austria
Someone made a transmog mod




It's not the most elegant solution, as it removes stats from armour and puts them on amulets that'll take up slots, but it's a start, maybe someone will come up with a better solution later on
 
  • Like
Reactions: Panda Pedinte

QFNS

Plays too many card games
Nov 18, 2018
1,172
2,838
113
Finally saw the credits last night. What a game.

That last boss though... whew. Not as bad as ye olde Malenia, but a tough encounter overall. I was ~level 155 for those wondering. I probably could have done it sooner, but I was enjoying going around and collecting ashes and spells and whatnot.
 

d00d3n

MetaMember
Jan 26, 2019
306
555
93
Finally saw the credits last night. What a game.

That last boss though... whew. Not as bad as ye olde Malenia, but a tough encounter overall. I was ~level 155 for those wondering. I probably could have done it sooner, but I was enjoying going around and collecting ashes and spells and whatnot.
The last boss was pretty annoying. Really difficult without a summon, but crushes most ashes, including the most ridiculous and cheesy ones. Thus, most people need a multiplayer summon to have a chance, which leads to waiting times and problems finding an actually skilled co-op player.
 
  • Like
Reactions: QFNS

kio

MetaMember
Apr 19, 2019
1,447
4,656
113
Permanent foggy area (Consecrated Snowfield) + permanent snow + daylight = I can't see a damn thing more than 1m away, all I see is white, I can barely see the ground let alone whatever surrounds me.
I had such a shitty day and all I wanted to do was explore a new area a bit but this is impossible, I can't bare this today.
 
  • Like
Reactions: QFNS

Panda Pedinte

Best Sig Maker on the board!
Sep 20, 2018
4,623
13,012
113
Permanent foggy area (Consecrated Snowfield) + permanent snow + daylight = I can't see a damn thing more than 1m away, all I see is white, I can barely see the ground let alone whatever surrounds me.
I had such a shitty day and all I wanted to do was explore a new area a bit but this is impossible, I can't bare this today.
I think that's the only place that I really disliked exploring.
 
  • This!
Reactions: QFNS and LEANIJA

LEANIJA

MetaMember
May 5, 2019
2,949
7,386
113
Austria
At level 160, I went on a bit of a revenge rampage yesterday and went through a lot of the map, from boss to boss to boss, murdering everyone that I couldnt defeat earlier on :face-with-tears-of-joy:

theres a bunch of them, however, that seem to be super-hard no matter what. maybe its my setup/build, too. I accomodate when I notice the strengths&weaknesses of a boss (or rather, my own weaknesses towards their attacks), but some of them are so fast its really hard to deal with. Like the Ringleader Evergaol guy. A random optional boss, harder than a Lord.
Even some regular enemies will continue to give me grief, I guess, like the Captain-Knights (whatever theyre really called) with the huge shields/spears/greatbows, those guys are somehow always a pain in the arse (I stumbled across a dungeon full of them, yikes).
Also, those red wolves. And theres a weird super-twisted looking thing that attacks superfast and knocks down health like its not even there. Dunno whats thats called, thankfully only encountered them twice.
 

Avern

MetaMember
May 14, 2020
370
1,239
93
Something that has consistently impressed me about this game is the design of all the little caves and catacombs. They're all leaning heavily on reused assets, but instead of a lame copy+paste job, it feels like every one I find has something unique about it. I'm stunned at how many different ones I can remember details from.

Last night, I found the one where there are 2 nearly identical sections set up in a way to confuse you into thinking the catacombs are repopulating themselves, and that one stuck out as particularly clever.
 

d00d3n

MetaMember
Jan 26, 2019
306
555
93
Last night, I found the one where there are 2 nearly identical sections set up in a way to confuse you into thinking the catacombs are repopulating themselves, and that one stuck out as particularly clever.
That one was fun. If I remember correctly, there is one with three such connected sections as well.
 

fearthedawn

Junior Member
Apr 19, 2019
289
593
93
And theres a weird super-twisted looking thing that attacks superfast and knocks down health like its not even there. Dunno whats thats called, thankfully only encountered them twice.
probably a revenant, my answer to them was running or dying until i found out that they aren't great at turning so rolling forward at a slight angle usually got me out of their super fast and super long flurry of attacks and in position to strike

(and i later learned heals hurt them)
 
  • Like
Reactions: LEANIJA

LEANIJA

MetaMember
May 5, 2019
2,949
7,386
113
Austria
Something that has consistently impressed me about this game is the design of all the little caves and catacombs. They're all leaning heavily on reused assets, but instead of a lame copy+paste job, it feels like every one I find has something unique about it. I'm stunned at how many different ones I can remember details from.

Last night, I found the one where there are 2 nearly identical sections set up in a way to confuse you into thinking the catacombs are repopulating themselves, and that one stuck out as particularly clever.
That one was fun. If I remember correctly, there is one with three such connected sections as well.
I did that one recently as well. Had me scratching my head for a while until I started counting flights of stairs ("2 down, 4 up...I'm at floor 7 now..." etc)

probably a revenant, my answer to them was running or dying until i found out that they aren't great at turning so rolling forward at a slight angle usually got me out of their super fast and super long flurry of attacks and in position to strike

(and i later learned heals hurt them)
oh, good tips! :D thank you :)
 

kio

MetaMember
Apr 19, 2019
1,447
4,656
113
Two things of relevance happened today:
  • Got 400k+ runes from defeating an invader as a blue hunter. No idea how this is possible.
  • Reached 100h+ in-game time, even though steam say 110h somehow. Possibly still 30h away from finishing it after playing solely this game for over a month now... Please send help...
 

LEANIJA

MetaMember
May 5, 2019
2,949
7,386
113
Austria
Two things of relevance happened today:
  • Got 400k+ runes from defeating an invader as a blue hunter. No idea how this is possible.
  • Reached 100h+ in-game time, even though steam say 110h somehow. Possibly still 30h away from finishing it after playing solely this game for over a month now... Please send help...
I feel ya! I reached 100hrs (says Steam) ... wait, 107? Ok, 107 hours, and I also think I have loads lefts to do (keep finding new huge areas to explore :D )

and I am often almost glued to the game ;P its a disease ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Avern

Joe Spangle

Playing....
Apr 17, 2019
2,417
8,223
113
I've made it up to Mt Gelmir and was wandering around and fell through the floor. Respawned and made my way back and started walking through the ground and fell through again. I'll admit part of me was like 'is this supposed to happen', souls games can be weird, but no. Its a bug. Re-validated the files.
 

Avern

MetaMember
May 14, 2020
370
1,239
93
Now that I'm past the capital, it feels like the game is taking the training wheels off. I'm approaching 60 vigor and yet some of these bosses are still doing crazy damage. I fought a Death Rite Bird and was shocked to find that when it does its "shoot 60 homing projectiles" spell, each one was doing a solid 50% of my health. Most of the game up until now has let me get away with face-tanking a lot of stuff and just healing through the pain, so it was a ton of fun to fight a boss where I had to actually learn its attack patterns.

This game seems like it'll be ideal for runs with self-imposed restrictions. I suspect I would have found many bosses more fun if I had less weapon upgrades and vigor.
 
  • Like
Reactions: d00d3n

LEANIJA

MetaMember
May 5, 2019
2,949
7,386
113
Austria
Now that I'm past the capital, it feels like the game is taking the training wheels off. I'm approaching 60 vigor and yet some of these bosses are still doing crazy damage. I fought a Death Rite Bird and was shocked to find that when it does its "shoot 60 homing projectiles" spell, each one was doing a solid 50% of my health. Most of the game up until now has let me get away with face-tanking a lot of stuff and just healing through the pain, so it was a ton of fun to fight a boss where I had to actually learn its attack patterns.

This game seems like it'll be ideal for runs with self-imposed restrictions. I suspect I would have found many bosses more fun if I had less weapon upgrades and vigor.
yup in that region the power of the mobs gets a signifcant bump...when I reached it, I figured, yup, time to level up further, find more gear or better spirits etc....and thats what I did, and its better now :D
 
  • Like
Reactions: d00d3n and Avern
OP
Durante

Durante

I <3 Pixels
Oct 21, 2018
3,835
18,379
113
I'm always reminded that I play these games in let's say a nonstandard manner when I see people's vigor (or generally, defensive stats). I'm level 135 or so and I think I have 22.

The well known fact that "dead mage deals no damage" is of course a frequent issue, and everything (that survives the first hit) is more stressful than it needs to be, but I enjoy my 85 INT all-damage glass cannon build very much.
 

QFNS

Plays too many card games
Nov 18, 2018
1,172
2,838
113
I'm always reminded that I play these games in let's say a nonstandard manner when I see people's vigor (or generally, defensive stats). I'm level 135 or so and I think I have 22.

The well known fact that "dead mage deals no damage" is of course a frequent issue, and everything (that survives the first hit) is more stressful than it needs to be, but I enjoy my 85 INT all-damage glass cannon build very much.
I cannot imagine playing with such low Vigor. Without being able to make a couple mistakes I don't understand how it would be possible to face some of latter bosses in this game. And honestly since armor is so pointless in this game (Fashion Souls is in full effect), I wonder how you manage.

Maybe your co-oping? I couldn't have beaten the game even been using the ashes life I did without the extra health.

Though the nice thing about this game is changing your build is only 1 larval tear away.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Durante and d00d3n

d00d3n

MetaMember
Jan 26, 2019
306
555
93
I'm always reminded that I play these games in let's say a nonstandard manner when I see people's vigor (or generally, defensive stats). I'm level 135 or so and I think I have 22.

The well known fact that "dead mage deals no damage" is of course a frequent issue, and everything (that survives the first hit) is more stressful than it needs to be, but I enjoy my 85 INT all-damage glass cannon build very much.
Pure gameplay information about the intelligence stat:
There is a steep drop in sorcery scaling above 80 intelligence. Using intelligence boosting gear, I only seemed to get 1 or 0 points of sorcery scaling per intelligence stat point after 80 intelligence. Going over 80 may be useful for some weapons though, I haven't tested that as thoroughly
 
  • Like
Reactions: QFNS and Durante
OP
Durante

Durante

I <3 Pixels
Oct 21, 2018
3,835
18,379
113
I cannot imagine playing with such low Vigor. Without being able to make a couple mistakes I don't understand how it would be possible to face some of latter bosses in this game. And honestly since armor is so pointless in this game (Fashion Souls is in full effect), I wonder how you manage.

Maybe your co-oping? I couldn't have beaten the game even been using the ashes life I did without the extra health.
I do co-op a lot, though honestly given the very significant health increase in bosses I find some of them easier to manage with ashes than in co-op. My damage output is such that I really only need very little time to kill most bosses, and ashes can give you that time. For the harder fights it's basically dodging until you can get a hit in, do that, repeat.

It really helps to learn to tell as rapidly as possible when a boss switches its aggro target up so that you can get the maximum use out of any break you get. It also helps not to get hit :p

Pure gameplay information about the intelligence stat:
There is a steep drop in sorcery scaling above 80 intelligence. Using intelligence boosting gear, I only seemed to get 1 or 0 points of sorcery scaling per intelligence stat point after 80 intelligence. Going over 80 may be useful for some weapons though, I haven't tested that as thoroughly
Yeah, since I don't like to read up anything even regarding gameplay mechanics on my first time playing, but I also like min-maxing my DPS, I noticed that (I usually monitor my scaling stat and actual DPS). That's why I, with a heavy heart, stopped at 85 int for now.
Currently I feel like I can get a pretty decent boost in DPS still by leveling dex for casting speed.
 

ExistentialThought

Coffee Lover ♥☕
Feb 29, 2020
1,560
4,834
113
Have only been able to play in short spurts at night.

Last night I was getting whooped at Redmane castle fighting Misbegotten Warrior and Crucible Knight.

It is making me think I should level up a bit more as I am only level 40 and that is after levelling up a bit after getting whooped. I can easily beating the warrior before the knight even gets to me extremely consistently. The knight though...sweet lord, he whoops me before I can even get him to a quarter health. I can parry about 50 percent, but when he almost one shots me that makes one failed parry likely to result in death.

I am using the Bloodhound Fang and it is only plus 2 or 3, with Godrick ash summons.
 
  • Like
Reactions: QFNS and LEANIJA

QFNS

Plays too many card games
Nov 18, 2018
1,172
2,838
113
Have only been able to play in short spurts at night.

Last night I was getting whooped at Redmane castle fighting Misbegotten Warrior and Crucible Knight.

It is making me think I should level up a bit more as I am only level 40 and that is after levelling up a bit after getting whooped. I can easily beating the warrior before the knight even gets to me extremely consistently. The knight though...sweet lord, he whoops me before I can even get him to a quarter health. I can parry about 50 percent, but when he almost one shots me that makes one failed parry likely to result in death.

I am using the Bloodhound Fang and it is only plus 2 or 3, with Godrick ash summons.

My answer to everyone feeling like they are underpowered, upgrade your weapons. Always gives a big difference if you can do it. If you can do it find some caves and do those for materials and then upgrade haha.
 

Avern

MetaMember
May 14, 2020
370
1,239
93
Woo, just defeated the (lategame spoilers) Godskin Duo. I had seen complaints about this fight being unreasonable, so I was a bit worried going in. It wound up taking about 10 tries, but I had a blast. I managed to do it with no ashes/summons. Just one big ol' sword. When I learned that one of the duo could revive the other, I kept trying to quickly kill the second one before they could get a revive off. I eventually did it, since my sword is great at stunning. But then I fight just kept going anyways. Ouch.
 

xinek

日本語が苦手
Apr 17, 2019
737
1,343
93
I'm really not loving the late game areas. I have around 55 Vigor, and I feel that it's still too low. I'm dying way, WAY more than anytime aside from the very early game. The problem is that it's so boring to level Vigor. It's much more fun to level things that make your attacks stronger. Or something interesting like Arcane for more pickups. But here I am with 100k runes, and yet again leveling Vigor. Meh. I also can't level my weapon any further until I progress to where I can get more level 8 smithing stones, which is why I have to keep pushing forward. I'm mostly out of optional areas at this point. This is my main complaint after 100+ hours, so not so bad.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LEANIJA

Avern

MetaMember
May 14, 2020
370
1,239
93
The fight with Maliketh the Black Blade was sick. Even with the range of an ultra greatsword, that dude was schmovin' around so much I could barely touch him. And then the cutscene you get after the fight ends looks so cool. :coffee-blob:

Crumbling Farum Azula has been a real treat to explore. I also found the secret boss while I was there thanks to some messages, and wow is that well hidden. First a drop that looks near impossible, then platforming out towards seemingly nothing, then randomly getting a prompt to sleep?? Someone at From was feeling spicy when they decided to put a huge boss fight behind all that.
 

LEANIJA

MetaMember
May 5, 2019
2,949
7,386
113
Austria
Thanks for the tip!
As someone that plays offline, i couldn't rely on the multiplayer messages to find such things, so it's very appreciated :)
I'll take a look at that this afternoon.

@vigor: i know what you mean, xinek ... that's why i just did rune farming for that. Repetitive and boring, but gives you a substance boost.
Now I can even take a hit from a chariot ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: xinek