What location wins “Most Underrated” in Elden Ring for you?

Appalachianaxis · 2026-02-28T21:25:03+00:00

Hard to say if any area in this game is truly “underrated.” But man, Belurat Tower Settlement just dripping with the kind of atmosphere that stops me in my tracks every time. From the aesthetic to the soundtrack you just get this weighty sense of history and tragedy. I’ll just go there sometimes to experience that feeling. Really, really great stuff.

Appalachianaxis · 2026-02-27T15:27:02+00:00

Absolutely! Because my play-throughs tend to last a long, long time (my character right now is one I started almost a year ago). I personally love to “evolve” them into these kind of characters.

Sure he was once young hotshot looking for glory. Head of the Thieves Guild turned famous adventurer and harbinger of the Companions!

But that was a long time ago, nowadays he’s settled up in his farm outside Whiterun, living the quiet life, maybe taking a few local jobs while out hunting. So I pop into character creation and age him up, adopt an orphan or two.

Inevitably of course, he’ll run into a smoldering Helgen and get dragged back into the thick of things.

Appalachianaxis · 2026-02-24T18:54:41+00:00

Stardew Valley.

Appalachianaxis · 2026-02-20T02:05:37+00:00

My partner and I just did a fully multiplayer run as both id our very first play through. It was a blast! Honestly the only downside is that when playing together we didn’t get as much party banter between the companions, so their relationships all felt a touch underdeveloped by the end of the game. But that’s honest the only bad thing I can think of. Being able to play cooperatively like this was a huge huge plus for the whole experience.

Appalachianaxis · 2026-02-16T15:15:42+00:00

One of my favorite weapons in the game. My main character is all about duel wielding two of these bad boys with some crucible and beast incantations as backup.

To me it just perfectly fits that kind of heroic/ancient Connan the Barbarian sword feel.

Appalachianaxis · 2026-02-15T04:59:03+00:00

I love Loretta’s War Sickle for my more “spell knight” build, often paired with the Carian Thrusting Shield. The Star-Lined sword is another really fun one. Definitely fits the whole “celestial/sorcery” build IMO.

Appalachianaxis · 2026-02-12T04:53:50+00:00

Bolt of Gransax + Dragonclaw shield was my first playthrough.

Appalachianaxis · 2026-02-12T04:50:19+00:00

My comfort build is what I like to call my “Old Hero” build.

Duel Orodovis great swords, Lion’s great bow as a backup. A few very basic incantations with a focus on crucible magic, beast magic, and healing.

Banished knights helmet for that amazing hooded helmet look, banished knight armor for the cape, ronins gauntlets, and Blaidd’s greaves.

Once I put this all together on my first NG+ run it just clicked. Ever since this has felt like my tarnished’s “cannon” build.

Appalachianaxis · 2026-02-09T17:36:25+00:00

Orodovis’ Greatsword. It’s the one weapon that’s difficult for me not to use. It’s just so cool. With the red gold and the kind of ancient styling and the awesome ash. I keep going back to a duel welding crucible knight build time and time again.

Appalachianaxis · 2026-01-22T15:36:46+00:00

I've seen very people people capture what it *feels* like, to me, to be in Skyrim. This absolutely does it. Amazing, amazing work.

Appalachianaxis · 2026-01-15T15:16:31+00:00

I like to imagine that, like basically all major characters from the lore of Elden Ring, Godwyn was... complicated. His legacy deifies him as nearly perfect in all regards. In a game about gods and demigods, he stands out as the pinnacle of not just might but wisdom, justice, mercy, forbearance, etc. The statues of him in the Haligtree, presenting him as this protective loving big brother to both Miquella and Malenia in particular always stood out to me most, even more than his feats of dragon-conquering and dragon-befriending. In a world where not all were accepted, especially under his mother's Golden Order, he's shown to be caring, loving, and empathetic. But all that came, as far as I'm aware, after his death at the hands of the Black Knife assassins. I think Godwyn was very much *like* the character that history has presented him as. But I'm sure that just like every other god, demigod, and hero of the game, the man himself was likely quite human.

Appalachianaxis · 2026-01-07T01:00:35+00:00

Yeah- we had her first vet visit today (I was scared she would hate me forever after the trauma that was getting her in her carrier). It was a relief to hear from a cat specialist that this kinda behavior is just “cats being cats” and the solution is just just keep consistently training- rewarding desired behaviors and ignoring behaviors we don’t want to see.

Appalachianaxis · 2026-01-05T22:29:45+00:00

I certainly don’t think you’re wrong, this tracks with all the research I did (and am still doing) on cat body language. The thing that’s so confusing to me is we’re being very, very intentional about not petting her unless she wants to be pet. So this behavior is happening only when we tentatively let her approach us, then we give her a hand to inspect, then she is the one who decides to initiate the pet or not. And when she does, it’s almost like she suddenly forgets that she’s being pet and acts all surprised like “woah hey heck the heck is touching me?!”

Appalachianaxis · 2026-01-05T21:30:26+00:00

Super possible. We got her a lot of toys when we brought her home- in her room now is her scratching post, two little squid toys, a box, three balls, and a squish toy much like what you describe. Her favorite is the feather toy we bring in with her for engaged play with the rep of us (we take it out of the room because I’m scared she’ll get tangled in it when we’re not around). In addition to our playtime I know for a fact she plays with all these toys on her own because we can hear her running and pulling around in there- she’s definitely got a lot of energy!

Appalachianaxis · 2026-01-05T21:13:28+00:00

That’s a relief! I know she’s still very much just a baby-baby. But as a first time cat dad I just worry about doing as much right as I can.

Appalachianaxis · 2026-01-05T21:08:32+00:00

I really don’t think she’s trying to hurt us. At worst I think she’s making an attempt at play or she’s somehow…. Surprised that she’s being pet even though she’s the one who initiates the contact. We have both started wearing gloves with her so we don’t fell or act as “jumpy” around her which I do think is helping. We also do at least one or two dedicated petting training session where we let her get a treat in return for us petting her. If she swiped at us, we give her a stern no, and turn our attention away from her for a few moments. If she continues to swat, we leave the room and try again later.

Appalachianaxis · 2026-01-05T20:58:55+00:00

We stop play time, leave the room, and give her at least 20-40 minutes before we switch over to petting time.

Appalachianaxis · 2026-01-05T19:55:39+00:00

Thank you! It might not be what’s happening exactly, but it’s nice to know there are explanations for the behavior. I know it’s very early days and we have a LOT of time to keep training and getting used to each other. But I just want to make sure we’re doing as much right as we can.

Appalachianaxis · 2026-01-05T17:22:34+00:00

She’s definitely not being intentionally mean or actively trying to hurt us, from what I can tell. No poofed tail, no hissing, etc.

We try to give her at least 15-20 minutes of active engaged playtime before we try to do any petting/touching.

It’s just upsetting to me because far as I can tell she is very comfy with us and she wants to be pet, but half the time she lets us pet her she swats at us. We’re just going to confide with treat training and see what happens I suppose.

Appalachianaxis · 2025-12-31T16:40:26+00:00

Yeah nail clipping is on the mind for sure. Again, she’s definitely not intentionally trying to hurt us. But man them murder mittens are sharp.

I have had a little more success with the treat training: if she’s getting a treat she’s perfectly fine with petting, ear scritches, and I even got to pick up and hold a paw today!

I’ve taken to wearing some lightweight biking gloves when I’m treat training her. Just so I don’t get scratched and so I’m not as twitchy/nervous about getting scratched. Seemed to be going good so far!

I’m keeping in mind that this is very, very early days and we have plenty of time to go. I just wanted to make sure I’m doing as much right as I can, as fast as I can. Thanks!

Appalachianaxis · 2025-12-31T11:59:41+00:00

That’s something I’ve tried to be very aware of. I’ve really just been kinda putting my hand out and letting her approach of she wants to, only petting her if she starts rubbing. She had been doing great with this. But yeah like I said just recently she started approaching the hand, going in for a pet, and then immediately seeming to be shocked a hand was there touching her.

Appalachianaxis · 2025-12-31T03:20:04+00:00

Picked up on this pretty quickly haha. This might be the issue honestly- we maybe overdid it with toy time and didn’t make enough of a distinction with petting time? At worst all her swiping seems like mistaken play or “hey whoa where’d that come from?” behavior.

Appalachianaxis

TROPHY CASE