- Joined
- Oct 2, 2003
- Messages
- 6,246
- Reaction score
- 1,118
Personally I only do it when I don't have the stats for a certain weapon I want to use.
Spoilers Official ELDEN RING Discussion [PS/PC/Xbox]
- Thread starter Diogenes of Sinope
- Start date
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2010
- Messages
- 8,993
- Reaction score
- 21,304
I have farmed for weapon stats (to equip), but generally it's just to be able to not fat roll with the armour I want to wear.
In essence, the best reason to farm is for....
Fashion 
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2002
- Messages
- 19,821
- Reaction score
- 9,263
I'm in the endgame now, and I'm having some conflicting feelings at present.
Until Leyndell, I was ready to herald this as the best From Software title yet, provided the endgame remained as strong. I personally thought Caelid was slightly weaker than the rest of the areas, barring Radahn's fight, and that Liurnia was gorgeous but also a bit sparser than Limgrave. But still all of these were fantastic areas, ripe with inventive enemies and content. I adored Altus and Gelmir, and Leyndell was simply mesmerizing. The legacy dungeons have been all fantastic, though I really wish they did something more with Redmane Castle. The underground areas overall felt a bit disjointed in their progression, and suffered a bit from unnecessary repetition (two unicorns and flame-lighting sequences, really?) which detracts rather than adds to the experience. but the aesthetic and mystery compensated for it. The Deeproot Depths were a wee uninspired, and Lake of Rot was awesome aesthetically but Izallith levels of laziness. Still, it gave us the Souls vertical descent to Hell we all love.
My major quibble with the game begins in the endgame, with Mountaintop of the Giants. Simply put, there was no need for that to be a whole region in its current state. It is lazy design. There are hardly any new enemies, the difficulty spike is extremely notorious at that point, and it feels artificial. Enemies are ridiculous sponges, and deal obscene amounts of damage, regardless of your build. Coming from Leyndell and Lake as a melee and heavy shield user, I was quite shocked. Aesthetically, it is also the weakest of the lot. Mogh's own 'dungeon' was similarly pointless.
Fortunately, the last few areas after that are remarkable in their beauty, Haligtree and Azula are some of the most beautiful areas From has ever produced. I have yet to complete these areas and beat their bosses. Overall, I am mesmerized by the game, but I do think they really overdid it with the repetition, which begins to take a toll in the endgame paired with some lazy design, empty space, and excessive difficulty. Way too many reused bosses, not only in the optional dungeons, but in the main quest, which leads to diminishing returns and begins to feel like a grind. You can only beat so many Erdtree Avatars, Magma Wyrms, Tree Spirits, Apostles, Ferrymen, Night Cavalries, Tree Sentinels, and tanky dragons, before they begin to feel like a genuine chore. Also, while Lyndell was amazing... they really dropped the ball with making Margot so reminiscent to Margit. After Godfried, Renalla, Radahn, and Rykard, it felt derivative and lame. Hopefully the last few bosses I have left are up to standards.
There are also deep balancing issues, particularly since Mountaintop, which makes builds lacking in vigor tortuous to play. Some regular enemies will one or two shot kill you even at 50 vigor wearing heavy armor. Meanwhile, I have found movement in combat to be clunkier, particularly rolling, making it less feasible than in DS3. This would be okay, since DS3 became a rollfest, but the problem is they have really gone a bit overboard with enemy aggression and endlessly chained long strings-combos,. This makes finding windows to attack safely quite difficult, and while I welcome the challenge, there were many times I thought bosses were just excessive with the spamming and string length, particularly in the late game where damage becomes grueling. This led me to rely on Mimic Tear and heavy shields more than I wanted to. I had to give up on my dual Halberd build, since tanking is just not feasible in this game.
Finally, while they did a really amazing job making the optional content a bit diverse (caves, tunnels, graves, catacombs each having distinct concepts) the repetition adds to the problems with the endgame. So much of mountaintop looks monotonous, having the same enemies you've fought before just buffed to the gills plus large tracts of empty space is just not inviting to exploration. You might say "but the content is optional! Just don't do it" but the fact is the game requires you to get pretty fucking strong to deal with its morbid difficulty later on. So you either find a farming spot, which is not fun anyways, or have to engage with the optional content, and fight twelve versions of the same boss. I can't believe they actually reused Astel or whatever his name was in a stupid cave. Also, I can't imagine what a first playthrough would look like skipping most of that content. I'm at 100 hours and am still having a really hard time, though a lot of it was getting lost and running in circles like a jackass. I really hope future patches can do something about the balancing and maybe even do something with Mountaintops. Though it's unlikely they will change its content at this point.
With all of this said, a part of me thinks it is the greatest game I've ever played. The world is immense, insanely beautiful, the music is incredible, the lore is fantastic, the legacy dungeons are amazing, their boss fights are arguably the best in the series, and the ambience is just spot on. I think it sets a new standard for open world games, which I have never enjoyed for their monotonous nature. Another part of me still thinks DS1 is insuperable for its novelty and world integration, flawed as it is.
Also, fuck bears.
Until Leyndell, I was ready to herald this as the best From Software title yet, provided the endgame remained as strong. I personally thought Caelid was slightly weaker than the rest of the areas, barring Radahn's fight, and that Liurnia was gorgeous but also a bit sparser than Limgrave. But still all of these were fantastic areas, ripe with inventive enemies and content. I adored Altus and Gelmir, and Leyndell was simply mesmerizing. The legacy dungeons have been all fantastic, though I really wish they did something more with Redmane Castle. The underground areas overall felt a bit disjointed in their progression, and suffered a bit from unnecessary repetition (two unicorns and flame-lighting sequences, really?) which detracts rather than adds to the experience. but the aesthetic and mystery compensated for it. The Deeproot Depths were a wee uninspired, and Lake of Rot was awesome aesthetically but Izallith levels of laziness. Still, it gave us the Souls vertical descent to Hell we all love.
My major quibble with the game begins in the endgame, with Mountaintop of the Giants. Simply put, there was no need for that to be a whole region in its current state. It is lazy design. There are hardly any new enemies, the difficulty spike is extremely notorious at that point, and it feels artificial. Enemies are ridiculous sponges, and deal obscene amounts of damage, regardless of your build. Coming from Leyndell and Lake as a melee and heavy shield user, I was quite shocked. Aesthetically, it is also the weakest of the lot. Mogh's own 'dungeon' was similarly pointless.
Fortunately, the last few areas after that are remarkable in their beauty, Haligtree and Azula are some of the most beautiful areas From has ever produced. I have yet to complete these areas and beat their bosses. Overall, I am mesmerized by the game, but I do think they really overdid it with the repetition, which begins to take a toll in the endgame paired with some lazy design, empty space, and excessive difficulty. Way too many reused bosses, not only in the optional dungeons, but in the main quest, which leads to diminishing returns and begins to feel like a grind. You can only beat so many Erdtree Avatars, Magma Wyrms, Tree Spirits, Apostles, Ferrymen, Night Cavalries, Tree Sentinels, and tanky dragons, before they begin to feel like a genuine chore. Also, while Lyndell was amazing... they really dropped the ball with making Margot so reminiscent to Margit. After Godfried, Renalla, Radahn, and Rykard, it felt derivative and lame. Hopefully the last few bosses I have left are up to standards.
There are also deep balancing issues, particularly since Mountaintop, which makes builds lacking in vigor tortuous to play. Some regular enemies will one or two shot kill you even at 50 vigor wearing heavy armor. Meanwhile, I have found movement in combat to be clunkier, particularly rolling, making it less feasible than in DS3. This would be okay, since DS3 became a rollfest, but the problem is they have really gone a bit overboard with enemy aggression and endlessly chained long strings-combos,. This makes finding windows to attack safely quite difficult, and while I welcome the challenge, there were many times I thought bosses were just excessive with the spamming and string length, particularly in the late game where damage becomes grueling. This led me to rely on Mimic Tear and heavy shields more than I wanted to. I had to give up on my dual Halberd build, since tanking is just not feasible in this game.
Finally, while they did a really amazing job making the optional content a bit diverse (caves, tunnels, graves, catacombs each having distinct concepts) the repetition adds to the problems with the endgame. So much of mountaintop looks monotonous, having the same enemies you've fought before just buffed to the gills plus large tracts of empty space is just not inviting to exploration. You might say "but the content is optional! Just don't do it" but the fact is the game requires you to get pretty fucking strong to deal with its morbid difficulty later on. So you either find a farming spot, which is not fun anyways, or have to engage with the optional content, and fight twelve versions of the same boss. I can't believe they actually reused Astel or whatever his name was in a stupid cave. Also, I can't imagine what a first playthrough would look like skipping most of that content. I'm at 100 hours and am still having a really hard time, though a lot of it was getting lost and running in circles like a jackass. I really hope future patches can do something about the balancing and maybe even do something with Mountaintops. Though it's unlikely they will change its content at this point.
With all of this said, a part of me thinks it is the greatest game I've ever played. The world is immense, insanely beautiful, the music is incredible, the lore is fantastic, the legacy dungeons are amazing, their boss fights are arguably the best in the series, and the ambience is just spot on. I think it sets a new standard for open world games, which I have never enjoyed for their monotonous nature. Another part of me still thinks DS1 is insuperable for its novelty and world integration, flawed as it is.
Also, fuck bears.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2015
- Messages
- 22,625
- Reaction score
- 31,472
It’s funny how different weapons have different effectiveness against different enemies. I don’t know if the Fire Giant is supposed to be a tough enemy but I fucking annihilated him with the bubble shower attack from the Envoy Long Horn (or the bubble saxophone as I call it). Solo’d him on the first try in about 90 seconds. Easiest major boss of the entire game for me, by far.
This was almost Pinwheel levels of ease, about on par with the Deacons of the Deep.
This was almost Pinwheel levels of ease, about on par with the Deacons of the Deep.
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2014
- Messages
- 22,519
- Reaction score
- 18,346
Could be an overlooked weapon bug. He’s really spongey
- Joined
- May 12, 2007
- Messages
- 7,347
- Reaction score
- 1,322
Envoy Long Horn looks like a fun weapon. Where did you get it?
- Joined
- May 12, 2007
- Messages
- 7,347
- Reaction score
- 1,322
He is. Almost everyone has trouble with him.
- Joined
- May 12, 2007
- Messages
- 7,347
- Reaction score
- 1,322
Good post and I agree with a lot of it. I assume the mountaintop of the giants is a reference to the broken archstone in Demons, at least that's my initial impression until I read something differently. I love the enemies and difficulty spike there and they're not really that hard once you figure out how to dodge their attacks. The big crows still give me trouble though.
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2014
- Messages
- 22,519
- Reaction score
- 18,346
Maybe the bubbles hit his eye in phase 2, it takes 2 or 3 times as much damage as his wrists
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2010
- Messages
- 15,342
- Reaction score
- 5,927
Finished up in Deeproot Depths, as far as i know Haligtree is the only area i have left before the end.
I've barely looked anything up so might have missed stuff but been pretty thorough. i'm sitting at like 150hrs on first playthrough seen a lot of you finished in double digit hours so i must do some amount of messing about lol.
I've barely looked anything up so might have missed stuff but been pretty thorough. i'm sitting at like 150hrs on first playthrough seen a lot of you finished in double digit hours so i must do some amount of messing about lol.
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2014
- Messages
- 22,519
- Reaction score
- 18,346
Nah anyone who took less than say 80 hours probably didn’t explore much
- Joined
- May 12, 2007
- Messages
- 7,347
- Reaction score
- 1,322
Cool, didn't know that. I don't think I was ever able to hit his eye.
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2014
- Messages
- 22,519
- Reaction score
- 18,346
Yeah with melee it’s near impossible. I just remember watching a speed run and a spell hit the giants eye and fucked him up
- Joined
- May 12, 2007
- Messages
- 7,347
- Reaction score
- 1,322
Congrats. How did you like the final boss?And that’s Elden Ring done!
Got all my Remembrances on this play through which I’m happy about. Not sure I want to get the platinum or not.
Overall feelings, it’s easily a top three game of all time for me. It surpasses every open world game I’ve ever played, not even close, honestly.
The sense of amazement and awe was nearly constant, especially during the early game, but it managed to keep that feeling throughout the entirety. The depth of this game is absolutely mind blowing.
My approach of pure melee and no summons definitely made it feel like the hardest Souls game I’ve played at times. I appreciated that the options to change my approach were there and I’m glad it’s made it accessible for so many people. This deserved to be played by as many people as possible.
If Demon’s Souls was the beta, this is the gold title. A fully realized experience that Miyazaki has spent over a decade perfecting.
I was really salty when I found him, especially when I saw phase two. Didn't like the design at all, but I've since watched a few other people fight him and now I think it's pretty cool and will probably like both phases a lot more next time.
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2015
- Messages
- 22,625
- Reaction score
- 31,472
I don’t think it’s a bug, it’s actually a very high damage weapon. I have mine upgraded to +10 and gear to boost its damage, like the envoy crown and the sacred scorpion talisman, and on certain enemies it just does huge damage, like Mogh. Essentially the bigger the enemy the better it is as the concentration of bubbles hitting a single enemy goes up so you can do like 3000-4000 damage per L2 bubble shower.
You have to farm for it from the Envoys that use it. There’s the Envoy Horn, Long Horn and Great Horn or as I call them, the trumpet, saxophone and tuba. The L2 attack makes the bubbles. The bubble attack from the trumpet sucks, but from the sax it’s amazing, especially in PVP. As long as you hit your target (which is the hard part to be honest) they’re almost certainly going to die.
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2010
- Messages
- 54,463
- Reaction score
- 33,528
I liked him overall.
Phase one took me a bit to adjust to but thankfully my heavy weapons put in work on his stagger. It took me two attempts to down him in phase two. I think I got some decent rng during my kill because I finished the entire last half of his health bar with no flasks and about 1/10 of my life. Didn’t get hit during that period which made downing him all that more exciting lol.
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2008
- Messages
- 22,159
- Reaction score
- 3,964
Was cruising through NG+1 but damn Asteel actually was tanky and I almost died to him. Same with the final boss of Ranni's sidequest he was doing tons of damage to me and killed me once. I'm level 164 or something like that and so far Godrick, Rennala, Radahn and all the sub-bosses I've fought have been really easy. Asteel was the first boss where I looked at his health bar when I was hitting him and went "oh shit" lol
- Joined
- May 12, 2007
- Messages
- 7,347
- Reaction score
- 1,322
Wow, only two attempts. Very nice. Second phase took me a while to learn. I was up close so couldn't see what was happening and the magic attacks kept getting me. I loved the music but was so grumpy the whole time. I was fixated on comparing phase two to all their previous final bosses and it just made me more impatient and even saltier, lol.
- Joined
- May 12, 2007
- Messages
- 7,347
- Reaction score
- 1,322
I've never even heard of Asteel. Where is this?
